Dying Matters Awareness Week
This week marks Dying Matters Awareness Week at a time when the experience of death and loss has been at the forefront for many of us for so long. So what difference can this week make for those of us who have lived through the worst pandemic for a century? Well I would venture to suggest that this year it shouldn’t be about thinking more but maybe about sharing more.
In March of this we were delighted that the charity My Living Will merged with Age UK Camden so that we could continue to provide the information and support for people who wanted to not only think about their end of life plans but also to document it so they could share it with others.
Dying Matters Awareness Week has found that’ people in the UK do not often have end of life plans in place because ‘they’re unaware of what to do, and unsure of how to talk about it’, that ‘just 13% of adults say they’ve let a close friend or family member know where they want to be when they die’, and just ‘three in ten know how to make arrangements to ensure they die in the place they would wish to’. We at My Living Will and Age UK Camden are committed to changing that figure so that people have the information and the resources they need to make the decisions right for them and their loved ones.
Talking with others about our own death takes courage and decisions can be difficult.
But they can also be the conversations of building blocks to ensure that what we want to happen does happen and that our families/friends know they have carried out our wishes. A little oasis of peace in the midst of such sadness, which in itself is a precious gift from one family member to another.
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/camden/our-services/my-living-will/
My Living Will is a specialist information service, hosted by Age UK Camden.
A Living Will is a document, similar to a financial will that sets out what treatment and care people do or don’t want at the end of their life. It can include where they would prefer to be and who they would prefer to be with them.
Through My Living Will, we provide an easy way for people of any age to access this information and create a Living Will so that they can stay informed and in control of their lives.
The service is free of charge