Attitudes to death and dying in the Black Country and West Birmingham will be the focus of a virtual event on 13 May as public services workers, the community and voluntary sector, and the general public gather to share ideas about how we can be more open about the end of life and how that can help us all prepare.

Many people are reluctant to hold conversations with their loved ones about their preferences about end of life care, funeral and financial planning. The event will discuss how families, employers and communities as a whole can talk openly about death and dying and make a difference for the people we care about.

Bookings here

Agenda

13:00 Welcome  

13:15 Conversations in preparation We’ll focus on the benefits that talking and making plans in advance of dying have and how this can help those left behind.

Dr Anna Lock, Palliative Medicine Consultant & BrumYODO chair (Chair)  Lis Whybrow, Solicitor & BrumYODO director & Cassius Francis, Finance development Officer.

13:45     Talking openly about death and dying: Exploring how the African Caribbean community in West Bromwich and Neighbourhood Services at Sandwell Council are joining the conversation.

Dr Anna Lock (chair)       Tom Hogan, Neighbourhood Services Manager with Sandwell Council Deska Howe, service manager at West Bromwich African Caribbean Resource Centre.

14:15     Death and younger people: We hear from the young people from The Shape Programme about their bereavement experiences and what they would like to happen to make things better.   

Suni Patel  & Neesha Patel  works with The Shape Programme for young people.

14:45     A confident workforce: With many people wanting to die at home, we’ll talk about how by working with care homes and primary care teams we can make a difference to how people can live well until they die.

Dena Ross, Advanced Clinical practitioner lead for the SWBH Care Homes team Dr Laura Pugh, GP with special interest in EOLC and Care Homes.

15:15     A compassionate community: Exploring how a local Yemeni Centre has responded to meet the needs of their bereaved community members as well as a new compassionate community initiative led by the voluntary sector. 

Manjula Patel, CEO Murry Hall Community Trust (Chair)Juanita Williams, Sandwell Advocacy compassionate community project & Saeed Nasser, Yemeni born psychotherapist who has delivered bereavement workshops.

15:45     Employers and bereavement: Many people who are bereaved are also working. We’ll talk about a personal experience of bereavement and how work place policy can affect bereavement. We’ll also cover how Covid affected support SWBH offered bereaved families and the difference this makes.

Sally Sandel, Black Country and West Birmingham ICS Commissioner (chair) , Suni Patel,  Sandwell Council Public Health team, Susan Edwards, SWBH Trust Bereavement lead.

16:15     Closing thoughts and question time                      

16:30     Event ends