As published in Irish Independent 13th August 2024 Talking about death doesn’t make you die, any more than talking about sex makes you pregnant. But that doesn’t make it any less daunting the first time you talk with someone you love about death and dying. In 2019 I listened to the palliative care consultant and … Talking about death won’t kill you – and sharing your end-of-life wishes is a gift
“For this school we enroll children under 5 years of age, who are in danger of not reaching their 10th birthday.” The words of Uganda Hands for Hope social worker Julius literally took my breath away. I was visiting families in the Namuwongo slum in Kampala, home to 20,000 people, and Julius and Felister, social … Saving Young Lives and Giving Hope in Uganda
Every death matters, and we only have one chance to get it right. As I listened to Dr Eve Namisango of the African Palliative Care Association (APCA) presenting her research on what is regarded as a good death in Africa (see box below), I was struck by how similar views of a good death in Africa are … Supporting Education & Training to Improve Dying, Death & Bereavement in Africa
“We are training the future leaders of palliative care in Africa and internationally,” said Dr Eddie Mwebesa, Clinical Director at Hospice Africa Uganda in Kampala, Uganda, as he introduced me to students who have received scholarships from Irish Hospice Foundation. “These students have been chosen because of their ability to become leaders in palliative care in their own countries, across Africa … Supporting the Development of Future Leaders of African Palliative Care
The Katanga slum in Kampala is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. The level of poverty is in many ways beyond belief, and yet the kindness and neighbourliness I saw there would put many of us in wealthy countries to shame. I was there accompanying Roselight, a nurse from Hospice Africa Uganda (HAU), to visit Safina, a … Bringing Dignity and Love to Dying in Uganda
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN IRISH TIMES JULY 5TH 2022 “The familiar voice or touch of a loved one often brings more comfort to the dying than any drug.” The words of palliative care consultant Maeve O’Reilly brought home to me, yet again, how savage and brutal were the effects of restrictions on people being with loved … No one should be forced to die alone. Restricting access is cruel
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN IRISH TIMES 31ST MARCH 2022 “Like an overnight blink they say it’s all over! It’s bloody well not!” As the Taoiseach announced in January the extra bank holiday and the lifting of many restrictions, the anger of my friend Siobhán’s message to me lit up the phone. I had sent her a … Half a million Covid bereaved need more than a minute’s silence
I love the thinking behind Betsy Reed Podcast ‘The Discomfort Practice’. That if we have the courage to sit with discomfort , there are – in Betsy’s words – “superpowers that lie on the other side of stepping into the unknown.” I have to admit though to major discomfort when she invited me to be … Guest on Betsy Reed’s The Discomfort Practice Podcast
Originally written for The Institute of Directors (Nov 2020) I had never chaired a board during a pandemic before. So in my capacity as Chair of Irish Hospice Foundation I found myself, six months in, wondering whether there were things I, and we as a board, could be doing better. I reached out to Chairs of … Chairing A Not For Profit During The Covid19 Pandemic
Some food for thought “That discomfort you’re feeling is grief” read the Harvard Business Review headline. I had been upbeat for the first three weeks of the lockdown. Full of the joys of the gift of more time and the opportunities that brought, I lost myself in busyness, before it really hit me – the … Re-imagining A Better World Post-Covid
