Discussing the end-of-life can be a challenging. To broach this subject the UCWA End-of-Life Care Task Group provides some helpful insights in our Conversations about the end-of-life booklet.
Conversations about the end-of-life
We may not like to admit it, but death could be just around the corner for any of us. It can occur at any stage of our journey. We often put off discussions about dying until ‘later on’, or ‘when the time is right’. Sadly, that can end up being too late.
Our Conversations about the end-of-life booklet provides a variety of introductory talking points that can help people have healthy conversations with their family, friends, doctor, and financial advisor or lawyer. Discussions of this kind can be life-enhancing by sharpening one’s own goals and priorities and helping your closest friends to better understand you and how you would like to be cared for in the event of a life-threatening event occurring.
Our Conversations booklet can be useful to anyone from our community, whatever their cultural background or religious or philosophical beliefs. They can also be approached from a spiritual and especially Christian point of view, which we believe adds special qualities and depth of meaning which can bring a rich sense of acceptance, courage and peace.
Voluntary Assisted Dying
The recent legalisation of voluntary assisted dying in Western Australia and many other parts of Australia provides a new opportunity for emotional, practical and theological considerations. The Conversations booklet includes resources to assist with these considerations, with particular reference to certain specifics of West Australian legislation, as well as the Uniting Church Synod of Western Australia’s acknowledgement that “there is a diversity of faithful Christian understandings and responses to dying and to ‘voluntary assisted dying’, and that we seek to live respectfully together in that tension.”
Extract from the Minutes of the 44th Annual Meeting of the Synod WA – Voluntary Assisted Dying (Word version)
Extract from the Minutes of the 44th Annual Meeting of the Synod WA – Voluntary Assisted Dying (Pdf version)
Useful Links
- Advance care planning – Goverment of Western Australia, Department of Health
- Advance care planning – Palliative Care Western Australia
- Advance Health Directives – Office of the Public Advocate
- Enduring Power of Guardianship – Office of the Public Advocate, WA.gov.au
- Palliative Care – Goverment of Western Australia, Department of Health
- Voluntary Assisted Dying – Goverment of Western Australia, Department of Health
- End-of-life pastoral resources for a range of situations – Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania
Resources
Contact
Queries or feedback may be sent to:
Convenor
End-of-Life Care Task Group
Uniting Church Synod of WA
GPO Box M952
PERTH WA 6843
Email: eol.care@wa.uca.org.au