Online Zoom Forum: Living with Terminal Illness: Spiritual, Social, and Policy Perspectives.
Date: Wednesday 28 September 2022.
Time: 7pm-9pm (UK time).
Event Description:
Format: There will be four talks, each of 10 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of discussion among the speakers, the chair, and the audience, followed by Q & A.
Chair:
Dr Sara Trevelyan:
Bio: I trained as a medical doctor in my 20s, later on training to become a counsellor and psychotherapist in the person-centred tradition and practised for many years. I also work as a spiritual counsellor and energy healer. In 1990, I met Elizabeth Kubler Ross at a workshop called: Life, Death, and Transition at Carberry Towers. Meeting Elizabeth and hearing about her work had a profound influence on my understanding of death and dying. This has continued and deepened over the years through workshops which I have attended and assisted at with Phyllida Anam Aire. I recently contributed an introduction to a collection of personal reflections called Living Our Dying (Playspace publications). I believe in supporting the soul's passage when we reach the end of our lives, with compassion, presence, and a willingness to set aside our own beliefs so that we can be truly there for another. I am very interested advancing our understanding of end-of-life care and it is an honour to be invited to chair this discussion.
Speakers:
Maureen O'Neill OBE:
Title: Spiritual Support at end of Life Through Companioning.
Bio: Maureen O'Neill OBE is the Director of Faith in Older People which focusses on developing a stronger understanding of the spiritual dimension to the wellbeing of older people and those who care for them. Faith in Older People undertakes research, awareness raising, and education, particularly in relation to spiritual care, end of life, mental health, dementia, and loneliness and isolation. Maureen has worked in the voluntary sector for 40 years in different roles and is currently a member of the Council of Scottish Partnership on Palliative Care; the Board of Voluntary Health Scotland, and is a member of the Scottish Government Spiritual Care Programme Board.
Richard Meade:
Title: Caring for Someone at the end of Life: Highs, Lows, and Challenges.
Description: Many of us will become carers at some point during our lives, and often it will be for someone who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness or is approaching the end of their lives. Being a carer during this time can be hugely rewarding, but also challenging with issues of navigating the support needed for the cared for person, as well as dealing with the consequences of not being recognised as a carer, such as not getting a break from caring. Carers will face issues of pre-bereavement and grief before the person they care for dies, as well as bereavement afterward, and in many cases there is little or no support for them. With more and more people living longer into older age managing multiple conditions and spending more time in the community and at home rather than hospital the next twenty years will see an increasing demand on family and unpaid carers. Supporting their health and wellbeing and empowering them to care will need to be high on the agenda of policymakers.
Bio: Richard Meade leads the team at Carers Scotland & Carers NI where he joined in January 2022. He has extensive experience working in the third sector in senior leadership roles, including recently as Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Marie Curie, where he led award winning campaigns to change legislation and influence public policy. He has a proven track record in managing departments, teams and projects covering public affairs and stakeholder engagement plans, research projects, corporate communications activity and strategy development.
Richard currently sits on the Scottish Government’s Health and Social Care Expert Working Group on Spiritual Care.
He has worked for a range of organisations including Barnardo’s Scotland, Fleishman-Hillard, NHS Quality Improvement and the Home Office. Richard has a degree in History and Politics, a MSc in Policy Studies, and is currently studying a Master of Public Health at the University of Edinburgh.
Dr Sorcha Hume:
Title: Assisted Dying in Scotland: The Next Liberal Reform?
Summary: Liam McArthur MSP's public consultation for his proposed Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill received over 14,000 responses, more than any other Member's Bill since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999. Friends at the End (FATE) is a Scottish charity which campaigns for assisted dying to be legalised in Scotland and to that end, supports Mr McArthur's proposed Bill. Hear from FATE's CEO, Dr Sorcha Hume, about what the public had to say about this small reform which would change our society's culture around death, dying and bereavement for the better.
Bio: Dr Sorcha Hume is a medical doctor with nearly 10 years' experience in the third sector, with a brief secondment working as a researcher in the Scottish Parliament. Sorcha believes that dying people deserve the right to choose the manner and timing of their death, much as we can exercise control over many other aspects of our lives. Having witnessed bad deaths both as a junior doctor and in her personal life, Sorcha believes that we can do better as a society for terminally ill people.
Becky Chaddock:
Title:: Living with Dying - a social perspective.
Bio: Becky Chaddock is a Palliative Care Social Worker, currently Access Lead at St Columba’s Hospice Care, Edinburgh. She has been working in hospice and palliative care since 2008. She has an honours degree from St. Andrews University and studied for her MSc in Applied Social Sciences and training as a social worker at the University of Oxford. She is Scotland co-rep for the Association of Palliative Care Social Workers and council member of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. She has published on early intervention and advance care planning, and most recently is co-authored the UK chapter of Second Edition of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work, 2021.
NB: There will be no refund if you cancel your booking.
Cost: By Donation. For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
(for late inquiries on the day, then email, do not phone.
If you book on the day of the event you will be emailed the Zoom sign-in details 1-2 hours before the event).