Awareness Week resources for organisations

We know it can be really challenging to start conversations – especially about death and dying.

So, based on answers from our survey of 1,000 recently bereaved people, we’ve created a fun, engaging online quiz that anyone can take – to see how their answers compare and to challenge their preconceptions.

Taking the quiz gives the opportunity to really think about the sort of language you’d prefer, and why.

This year’s Dying Matters expert, Dr Lucy Pain of North London Hospice, adds her fascinating insight to the answers, based on her many years of experience treating – and talking to – patients at the end of their lives. 

Similar to the online quiz version, we’ve designed six talking points cards which you can easily print off and use in person, in groups of any size. They’re designed to help spark conversations about the language we use around death and dying with healthcare professionals and family members. And people taking part have the chance to add their own reflections, if they feel comfortable doing so.

On each card, you’ll find Dr Lucy Pain’s reflections, and examples of questions to ask healthcare professionals to help have more honest, open conversations about dying when you need them most.

Our new, animated film uses testimony from a patient, a bereaved person and a palliative care doctor, to concisely explain this year’s Dying Matters Awareness Week campaign and why language is so important.

You could use the desktop and social versions in your internal comms, or share them externally to show your support.

The videos will be available in late April. 

This year, we’re featuring the stories of three people, and how language around death and dying has affected them.

Patricia is a terminally ill in-patient in her 80s, being cared for by North London Hospice. She reflects on her experience finding out that she was entering the end of her life.

Mumtaz’s husband, Sharik, died in 2021 from multi-organ failure, and due to Covid-19 restrictions, he was alone at the end of his life. Mumtaz describes their experience, and how language played a part in it.

Dr Lucy Pain is Palliative Medicine Consultant at North London Hospice. She’s our resident Dying Matters expert this year, and offers plenty of anecdotes, reflections and other thoughts on why the way we talk about Dying Matters.

These stories will be available w/c 29 April 2024.

We couldn't do any of this alone. Join the Dying Matters Awareness Week conversation on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Want to share on your own social channels? We'll soon have some example posts and graphics for you to use. 

Make sure you use this year's hashtags when you post: 

#TheWayWeTalkAboutDyingMatters

#DMAW24

Discover how your organisation compares to the market by taking the Compassionate Employers mini-assessment. 

It’s free, it takes just one minute, and you’ll find out whether your company has compassionate best practices.