Jen Wood, PR and Communications Manager, St Columba’s Hospice interviews Alison Allan about her project to build a Before I Die Wall in the construction site canteen of the new St Columba’s Hospice.
Alison Allan is currently completing her MSc in Palliative Care at St Columba’s Hospice, and has been working on this Health Promoting Palliative Care project as part of her academic work. The project involved promoting the topic of death and dying by encouraging construction workers building the new St Columba’s Hospice to write on the Before I Die Wall on the construction site.
What made you decide to choose this as the subject for your MSc dissertation?
I thought that building a new Hospice was a
real opportunity to demystify what Hospices are about and that I wanted to set
up a Health Promoting Palliative Care initiative to encourage our construction
workers to think about this sensitive topic. St Columba’s Hospice is in the process of creating a brand new
specialist palliative care facility on the same site as the original Hospice.
Dying is a natural part of living and these construction workers are building a
Hospice for people who are facing the end of their lives. I was conscious that
many of those working on site were not as familiar with talking about death and
dying as we are in healthcare and palliative care. I saw this as a possible
opportunity for implementing a Health Promoting Palliative Care initiative as
part of my work.
What is Health Promoting Palliative Care?
It’s about reminding people that dying is a natural part of living and encouraging people to become more open and confident in dealing with death and dying, in order that people and communities can provide more support for each other. It’s in everyone’s interests to talk about these subjects and to talk about the practicalities and emotions surrounding dying, while we have the opportunity.
Can you tell us a bit more about your project?
I am completing an MSc in Palliative Care and looking at Health Promoting Palliative Care as a topic. I was inspired by Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief Awareness Week to take action! The Before I Die project was already well established and I thought that it would work well on a building site. I was able to get funding from Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief, was supported by the Hospice, and had a Before I Die board produced. This board was installed in our construction site canteen and has now been in place from 13th May and will come down on Friday 16th August.
Has the board been a success with the site workers?
It’s been a great success! We intended to take it down at the end of Awareness Week, but I was asked if it could be left up as it was being well used and appreciated. There have been a wide variety of comments, many tongue-in-cheek ones which we expected, but also quite a few thoughtful ones.
How do you feel about this project in general?
I think it has worked well and has triggered some good questions and thoughtful responses, and interest in what Hospices do, as well as the usual humour which you sometimes find on building sites! I’ve been asked about death and dying and people have shared personal stories and have told me that they’ve found it helpful to be able to talk through some difficult subjects.
The board has now come down but it will be available for the Hospice to use in the future. I am planning a further initiative as part of my academic work before the end of the year.
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