#74 Dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared - Changing plans, anticipatory grief and planning ahead

This is the last in a series of seven podcasts about End of Life Care, specifically towards the last days of life and when someone wishes to die at home. Rachel kindly agreed to make these with me and recreate some of the conversations I have had over so many years about dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared.

In this episode we talk about changing plans, anticipatory grief and being prepared. 

Dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared

1. Recognising when someone might be approaching the last stages of life and why this matter

2. What support is available to help look after a person who is dying at home

3. What equipment might be needed to help look after a person who is dying at home

4. Symptom control and medication as someone approaches the end of life at home

5. What changes are there as someone approaches the end of life?

6. What we need to do after a person has died at home

7. Changing plans, anticipatory grief and being prepared

Key messages from guest

• We recognise it is not a failure if plans change and a person dies in hospital

• When you know what to expect and when you have made some plans the bad things can be so much easier to deal with

• We explore anticipatory grief, and complex emotions experienced when a person we love dies

• Rachel shares how this series has helped demystify the use of morphine towards the end of life and what she has learned throughout creating the podcasts

Episode takeaways

• If things don’t go to plan it’s not a failure

• Ask the questions and be prepared  not scared

• Use the series as a whole or to answer questions you might have about dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared

Resource

• Access resource from Marie Curie What is anticipatory grief? 

• Find out about Compassionate Communities

Access Rachel’s work

Website: The Magnificent Midlife 

Podcast: The Magnificent Midlife Podcast

Book:  The Magnificent Midlife book

Bio:

Rachel Lankester, founder of Magnificent Midlife

Rachel Lankester is the founder of Magnificent Midlife, an online hub celebrating and empowering women 40+. She's the author of Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause and Beyond and host of the Magnificent Midlife podcast. After a shocking early menopause diagnosis at 41, she scratched her own itch and created what she wasn't able to find to help herself. This includes 1-1 and group mentoring, courses and educational resources to help women vibrantly transition through the sometimes messy middle of life. She's also the founder of MenoClarity, an online information hub about menopause.

Clare Fuller, Advance Care Planning Advocate, Educator & Coach

Clare is a Registered Nurse with 30 years’ experience in End-of-Life Care (EoLC). Clare is an advocate for Advance Care Planning and founded www.speakforme.co.uk to help organisations to improve EoLC, provide professional education and raise public awareness about Advance Care Planning. Clare campaigns for proactive Advance Care Planning, hosts the podcast Conversations about Advance Care Planning  and is a Lasting Power of Attorney Consultant.