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Articles on Talking about death and dying

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You can start these conversations simply, like saying, “I need to think about the future. Can you help me?” Richard Ross/The Image Bank via Getty Images

End-of-life conversations can be hard, but your loved ones will thank you

When you prepare to talk about end-of-life decisions and the legacy you want to leave behind, try thinking about them as gifts you bestow to family and friends.
It’s never easy when someone we’re close to is dying but there are things we can learn from the professionals who deal with this every day. PA/David Cheskin

We need to get over our fear of talking about dying

It’s not always easy to talk to someone who is dying. Conversations about future plans and wishes may appear insensitive and fuelled with great pain and distress when it’s somebody we love. For some, not…
Almost 70% of Australians will die in acute care hospitals – the same propportion that wants to die in their homes. nerissa's ring/Flickr

Reflections on dying from an intensive care physician

As an intensive care physician I’m increasingly confronted with managing patients who are at the end of their life. Australians need to be aware that the way that they will spend the last few days or weeks…
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A personal account of life with terminal cancer

TALKING ABOUT DEATH AND DYING - We end this series today with an account of one man’s experience of cancer. Bowel Cancer? Me? How could that be? I’ve been so fit throughout my life, eaten porridge, been…
For some, “fighting to the end” provides purpose but it can seem painfully pointless to others. Ed Cave

A challenge to our leaders – why don’t we legalise euthanasia?

TALKING ABOUT DEATH AND DYING - We can choose so many of our life experiences, but it seems we can have no say in whether we die in pain or at peace. Today we consider why we don’t have a policy on physician-assisted…
An Advance Directive is a written document that ensures a person’s wishes about the end of their lives are known. Luke Addison

Planning your endgame: Advance Care Directives

TALKING ABOUT DEATH AND DYING – Can we be forced to live despite our wish to have our lives end at some natural point? What options do we have for having a say in how and when we are to die? Today we look…
Byzantine metaphor for the soul and death – historical and philosophical reasons underlie our unwillingness to talk about death. Ken & Nyetta/Flickr

Body or soul: why we don’t talk about death and dying

TALKING ABOUT DEATH AND DYING – What are the cultural and historical and reasons for not talking about death? Today, we have a philosopher’s perspective on the silence that is seeing so many die without…
Patients want their doctor to tell them the truth. Michal Porebiak.

Caring or curing: the importance of being honest

TALKING ABOUT DEATH AND DYING – Why is it we don’t talk about the greatest inevitability in our lives? We explore the consequences of this silence in this series, today considering the issue from an oncologist’s…

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