Death and Dying
Welcome to the death and dying resource pages. Please do suggest anything you have found helpful and supportive when experiencing the death of someone close. We can all learn from each other.
I have now added information from the Nearing the End of Life Brochure, which I wrote with Dr Peter Fenwick, following our end of life research project.
While conducting the research study, I was astonishment at how little information was available for relatives and friends about what to expect, or how to cope when someone close begins to die.
So, Peter and I set about producing the booklet. To date we have sent out almost 20,000 brochures free (made possible through very generous sponsorship from the Aim Foundation) to hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and GP practices. We are both delighted with the response we have received from nurses, doctors and GPs as well as relatives and friends of the dying, and even the dying themselves.
Some visitors to this site may not want to download the whole brochure, so I have created separate pages (see links below or the drop-down menu) which deal with important end of life issues. I hope this will make the information easier to access.
Towards the End
The fear of talking about dying
How do you know when someone is beginning their dying process?
Listening and talking about dying
Practicalities to think about when someone is dying
Recognising what the dying person may be feeling
Sitting with a dying person
Difference between end-of-life experiences and drug-induced hallucinations
What happens physically when someone dies
Things between relatives can often become fraught
Medical Terminology
Summary of important points
Some suggestions for friends of the dying
Living Wills and Liverpool Care Pathway
Articles and Recommended Books
Nearing the End of Life: A Guide for relatives and friends of the dying (PDF download).
Useful Links
Excellent series of short videos on U-tube talking about dying.
