This week is Dying Matters Awareness Week

This week is Dying Matters Awareness Week, where people are encouraged to think and talk about death.

The UK awareness week which is led by Hospice UK runs from 6-12 May 2024. This year's theme is 'The way we talk about Dying Matters’, and focuses on the language that we use, and conversations we have, around death and dying.

Our Chief Executive, Mary Doyle, says: "We are asking people to think about the language they use and the conversations they have. Think what you might say if someone has died. Words can support those bereaved but they can also blindside them. Start those conversations. Don’t avoid the person or the subject but take your lead from the bereaved person."

Mary also commented: "We run work-based half-day courses around 'How to have that difficult conversation' as we feel it shows a compassionate employer who cares about their employees’ wellbeing."

Included with this half-day workshop is a template bereavement policy that organisations can use within their workplace. You can find out more about this course on our Training page. 

Mary added: "We support children, young people and adults with their bereavement. Cruse believes that conversations around death don’t naturally happen – even using the word 'death' or 'died' is hard for some people. We are encouraging the use of proper words rather than phrases like 'gone to sleep' or 'lost'."

We'll be adding a numbers of posts around how we talk about death to our social media channels as part of Dying Matters Awareness Week.