#68 Dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared - Recognising when someone might be in the last stages of life

04.09.23

#68 Dying at home, what you need to know and how to be prepared - Recognising when someone might be in the last stages of life


This is the first of 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 how to recognise when someone might be approaching the last stages of life and why this matters.

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

  • Recognising when a person is approaching the last stages of life is important for planning care.

  • Having plans in place helps  a person’s wishes to be met 

  • There are hard and soft tools to help us recognise when a person might be approaching the last stages of life

  • Diseases have a trajectory around which we can model care

  • Being aware of the changes can help plan future care

Episode takeaways

  • It is important to look at an overall picture of decline when assessing how close a person could be to dying

  • Identifying a person may be close to the end of life enables appropriate person centred care to be delivered

  • Identifying if a person is approaching the last stages of life can help make plans

Resource

Access Rachel’s work


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.

 

What one thing will you do?

It would be great to share what resonated with you from this episode, what is the one thing you will do differently? Head to Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to continue these important conversations.

Thanks to all my guests for working with me to share their knowledge, experience and stories about Advance Care Planning. I hope you enjoyed listening and have insights to take away; I love hearing your reflections on the series and look forward to reviews on Spotify where you can also subscribe to the series.

Clare

Important Conversations about Important Conversations.