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Background: Death is universal. Only 37% of adults have a will and 48% have stated their wishes regarding cremation or burial.(1) Planning and communication can help prevent some of the distress associated with dying and bereavement., Aim: To evaluate an intervention to encourage people to plan for the end of their life and to communicate their wishes to those closest to them., Method: Two interventions were delivered via community groups: 'Awareness' presentations aimed to raise awareness of benefits of preparing and talking about end of life issues. 'How to' workshops aimed to give people confidence and tools to open relevant conversations. To evaluate their impact, we conducted a 3-stage questionnaire survey; administered before, immediate after and 3 months after events., Results: At baseline (n = 498; 76% female) 76% had previously discussed end of life care or wishes after death. Most were comfortable talking about these subjects, giving a mean score of 8.28/10. At follow-up (n = 133); 60% indicated they had made changes following the event; 43% had talked about their own end of life wishes, 9% for the first time; and 39% reported making other changes. The change in the proportion of people who had ever talked about their own end of life wishes was statistically significant (p = 0.033)., Conclusion: Well designed community events can improve planning and communication of end of life preferences among general population., Reference: Dying Matters Survey http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/Dying_Matters_Public_April12.pdf., (© 2015, Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)

Background: Public health approaches to end of life are a relatively recent development; hence research methodology in this area is also being developed., Aim: A workshop for practitioners and researchers describing methodologies used by an end of life public health programme to develop and test interventions and assess the needs and potential for success of further work., Methods: During the workshop we will describe the methodologies used in a programme which aimed to reframe death and loss as social event and additionally included participatory approaches and engaging communities. Mixed methods approaches of direct observational methods, longitudinal questionnaire surveys to determine both immediate and sustained effectiveness of interventions and also semi-structured interviews will be described. The workshop will present this work, reflect on other methodologies that could be used; discuss what worked well and not so well, and encourage discussion of other people's research in this area and further development. The importance of retention and follow up of participants will be discussed as will issues regarding qualitative interviewing in this area and further interventions regarding how participants can be encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas re public health and palliative care thereby helping to shape the practical and research agenda. The subject and value of evaluation as opposed to research will also be discussed., Conclusion: At the end of this workshop, researchers and practitioners wishing to evaluate and research their programmes will have gained a better understanding of the theoretical and practical applications of research and evaluation., (© 2015, Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)

Background: Societal barriers to open discussion of personal feelings and preferences relating to death may hinder planning for end of life and supporting people who are dying or bereaved., Aim: To explore views about talking about death, dying and loss., Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 people; age range 30 to 83 years., Results: Making wills and communicating end of life wishes were considered very important; mostly for the sake of the family left behind. Participants also valued confidence to discuss other people's end of life wishes and support them appropriately if they were dying or bereaved. Many participants were very comfortable talking about their own death. Identified barrier to talking about end of life wishes included not wanting to upset others; others not listening; not being about to find an appropriate moment; not knowing enough about the options available; and fear of death, especially of the unknown. Financial costs were seen as a barrier to making a will. Participants talked of the importance of raising awareness of what death and dying involves; what end of life options available; and the importance of communication. Information on the process of normal grieving and how to support somebody who has been bereaved were also suggested., Conclusion: Being able to talk about end of life wishes and know how to support people who are dying or bereaved are important to many people, and they would welcome interventions to facilitate this at a societal level., (© 2015, Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)