Resources

The COVID-19 emergency makes end of life planning essential NOW - we are all at risk

In the UK most deaths have been among those already frail from old age or chronic illness. A few were young and in apparently good health. They died in hospital, alone apart from medical staff because no visitors are allowed. After death the body is sealed, no one can view the body. No funerals are allowed, just a cremation or burial. What then can we do?

Dr Rachel Clarke, a palliative care specialist, on the BBC Today Programme on March 27 emphasised the importance of the psychological aspects of facing the end of one’s life.

The BBC reports that Palliative care doctors are urging people to have a conversation about what they would want if they, or their loved ones, became seriously unwell with coronavirus.

To add to all the other worries that a death and bereavement can bring, many people may also have very practical worries about the cost of a funeral. Like the cost of weddings the cost of funerals seems to have been inflating in recent years.

It may be that you have only heard about him in passing. But in any case, now would seem to be a good time to call on him. There is no waiting list. He is always available, free of charge. It is called praying.

This is an index to the printed copy of “Talking about Dying” and shows the range of topics covered.

Jackie Rotter, reader at Good Shepherd Church, Loughborough for Evangelicals Now

Helping me understand helping others. A good guide for the carer and the dying. Much good in this book.

This is an excellent book that everyone should read before they need it. There is lots of unfussy clear advice about many issues that crop up when we face death. If you’ve ever felt tongue-tied when someone is dying or strugggling to cope with the loss of someone close, this book will help. There are four authors, of whom the main contributor is a doctor with years of experience as a cancer specialist.