Any focus on the experience of end-of-life care must also examine the impact on those who are left to grieve the death of their loved one. This report provides valuable information on the emotional impact of end of life on family and friends and their need for access to clear, understandable and timely information following a loved one’s death. For some relatives and friends, they also identified a need for but difficulty accessing bereavement support and counselling, should they need it. Dying, death and bereavement will affect us all at some point in our lives and as such the findings in this report inform so many facets of healthcare provision in Ireland. While there are many encouraging aspects regarding the care provided to older people at end of life, these findings must be used to give momentum to the recommendations noted by the Alliance. The recommendations highlight that dying, death and bereavement impact older people across a variety of aspects of life, not just in care settings. That is why an Independent Commissioner for Ageing and Older People would not only take account of the supports required to age well but also those supports that will be relevant to support people to die well. This report provides valuable insights into the lived experience of the person who died and their families who loved and cared for them across the continuum of dying, death and bereavement. It is the responsibility of the Alliance to work as a collective to ensure we do all we can to learn from these experiences to improve the delivery of end-of-life and bereavement care for older people. This report provides us with information and recommendations that, as an Alliance, we will use to monitor and improve the delivery of end-of-life and bereavement care informed by older people’s experiences.
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Telling It Like It Is
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