The importance of palliative care

THE issue of death and dying is one which we often as a society find difficult to talk about, particularly with our frail and elderly loved ones.

We at the Health and Social Care Board and the Public Health Agency have been working with the Department of Health and many in the voluntary sector to understand how best to take forward a societal conversation on the topic of death, dying and bereavement.

Our Palliative Care in Partnership programme is aimed at exactly this — improving the quality of life at the end of life.

While Covid-19 has brought this into sharp focus for many, our future projections of death trends indicate that in the next 25 years we could see an increase of almost 30% in the numbers dying annually due to changes in our population age profile.

Advance Care Planning is the opportunity for people to plan their future care and support while they have the capacity to do so.

It is often a very delicate conversation to initiate and follow through. Few of us want to consider the end.

However, if we can support individuals and families to work through the conversations that are needed, this will go a long way to improving that quality of life for those we hold dear and help us grieve.

While our doctors and other health and social care professionals are there to guide us through the Advance Care Planning process, we should take ownership of this process so that our wishes are clear and documented.

If you are interested in learning more about this process, you can download the Your Life: Your Choices — Plan Ahead booklet, which has been produced by the Public Health Agency and Macmillan, at www. macmillan.org.uk.

PAUL TURLEY

Palliative care commissioning lead Heath and Social Care Board