How social and digital media has changed dying, death and beyond
The digital age has cracked opened the tricky topic of dying, death and beyond.
My own introduction to this emotional, multi-faceted topic was via a tweetchat (in the early, twitter days which were full of positive possibilities) It was a Palliative and Hospice chat: health care professionals whose mission was (is!) to ensure the best experience with dying, death and beyond.
The digital world tore down silos and built up relationships and communities. Without this digital door opening, I’d never have gained access to these minds and this expertise who respect what I, a non healthcare professional, bring to the table. As a result, created the first end of life website from a patient’s point of view, BestEndings.com, wrote a book: “Death Kills…and other things I’ve learned on the internet”, TEDtalk: Exit Laughing – my appreciation for palliative care.
Now, Digital initiatives are on the rise, examples such as: Positive Death movement, Video Living Will, apps to help share the burden of care, and connecting via video in hospitals.
Key Take Aways
- the benefits of turning to digital to tackle the end, and where to start
- finding support during the process: Dying, death and beyond - each may require different solutions
- digital solutions for making a plan: insights on what's there and what's not
- when information may be mis-information: every jurisdiction can have its own requirements related to death and beyond.
- digital media assets, legacy strategies, organ donor registry