#62 David Bowie & Advance Care Planning: a conversation with Prof. Mark Taubert

In this episode it is my pleasure to talk with Professor Mark Taubert, palliative care consultant, founder of Talk TalkCPR.com and chair of a national strategy group for Advance and Future Care Planning. We cover the famous Thank you to David Bowie Letter, Advance Care Planning in Wales and acknowledge both the complexity and simplicity of Advance Care Planning.

Key messages from guest

• Mark explains the shock he felt at hearing the news of David Bowie’s death and  the background to the posthumous  letter he wrote to David Bowie following the singer’s death.

• Reminiscing about David Bowe with a patient provided the catalyst to creating the now famous letter. Discussing the singer’s death opened up an Advance Care Planning unusually early in a first meeting with the patient.

• The letter started out in a reflective style as part of appraisal, 

• We acknowledge how celebrities can lead the way into discussions and trends, leading the way in for family conversations. 

• The letter was published in the BMJ and Tweeted by David Bowie’s son which led to a huge medic interest

• The media interest generated reflections from members of the public saying how it helped them to understand Advance Care Planning

• We talk about the nuances of Advance Decisions to Refuse Treatment

• Mark acknowledges the complexities of Advance Care Planning 

• Mark highlights that so often it is negative stories of Advance Care Planning that are reported rather than the positive.

• Mark closes by talking about the importance of education for ongoing Advance Care Planning

Resource

• Watch the David Bowie - Lazarus (Video)  YouTube. The video was released two days before the singer’s death in 2015. It depicts a hospital bed and ends with David stepping into and closing a wardrobe door, and was filmed when Bowie knew he was dying from cancer.

• Read A thank you letter to David Bowie from a palliative care doctor 

• Watch Benedict Cumberbatch reading Dr Mark Taubert's Bowie letter at Hay Festival 2016 

• Find out more about Talk CPR  

• Access information from  The Advance Care Plan resource for England & Wales  

• Access the What matters conversations resource 

• Access the all Wales Advance Care Planning resource at Advance and Future Care Plans

Bio:

Prof. Mark Taubert is a palliative medicine hospital consultant & clinical director at Velindre University NHS Trust. His teaching/research activities at Cardiff University include acute palliative care, using new media in clinical settings and decision making processes with regard to future care planning. He is the founder of TalkCPR.com and chairs a national strategy group for advance & future care planning. He has delivered a Ted Talk on subtleties in language that are relevant to modern healthcare delivery, and writes for international news outlets like the Guardian and the Washington Post, where his article about music choices was an editorial top pick of the year.