Preparing ourselves…
My friend put me onto this podcast years ago. I have enjoyed many of them, and this is really where I started to "cut my teeth" on end of life issues and the wide variety of things people were doing in this end of life space.
I think today's podcast is one of the best so I'd love to share it with you. It really struck a chord because it focused on many aspects of caregiving for someone with dementia, as well as the diagnosis process, stages of dementia and living with grief.
Listen to it from EOL University website here or on Spotify here.
The research I referred to in my earlier post this week (Heather McLeod from the Palliative Care Strategy Hui in May 2023 recording here has some sobering figures.
Dementia will be the leading cause of death in the not too distant future in NZ. Most people dying will be between 85-95 years old (currently our death rate sits around 30,000 deaths per year and that is predicted to double to 60,000 deaths per year over the next 50 years with a declining birthrate).
The majority of people with dementia tend to be cared for in last stages (years) and die in aged residential care.
Our Palliative Care strategy is currently getting a major overhaul (this is the Adult Working Group update from October 2024 recording here).
In this Adult Working Group update there were two very significant comments made that I wanted to share with you:
1. “There is no funding in the future that is going to keep up with the death rate in front of us, the answer lies with the community. It’s about empowering our communities to do the basics in palliative care. The time for the clinical services to have the monopoly on palliative care is probably going to come to an end in my life time” - Hera Pierce (aged 75 years old).
2. “What have you considered with regards to dialogue with community so people know what to expect, people can prepare themselves and their whanau for the knowledge, not to be frightened of death, how to look after your loved ones, and to be supported?” - Jane Cartwright
This is exactly why the compassionate community movement is so important.
And just so you know and can adjust your expectations of the health system accordingly, here's some light reading from The Kaka Substack here.
What might you need to do to prepare yourself or your family?