Charity in appeal for discussion over dying
A leading charity is calling for a “national conversation” to address the main worries people have in not identifying when a relative is about to die.
Sue Ryder is calling for greater dialogue between health professionals and families bout what to expect.
Research conducted on 1,000 bereaved adults by the social care charity found over four in ten (44 per cent) of those that had questions or worries – wantedtoknowwhatphysical or mental changes they should expect when someone close to them was near death.
Other questions included whether to bring up difficult issues with their dying family member or friend before the end of their life and how to make them more comfortable. Another concern for 36 per cent of participants was who should be there in the person’s final moments.
Heidi Travis, chief executive of Sue Ryder, said: “Death is an inevitable part of all our lives, and yet in modern society we have become far more distanced from the first-hand reality of it. It has become a taboo subject that many of us find difficult to broach. It is unsurprising our survey reveals a significant number of people struggling with uncertainty.”