Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief Conference

Death literate communities: learning together, supporting each other

3 March 2027

Renfield Centre, Glasgow

A key aim of the Scottish Government Palliative Care Strategy is “enabling people and communities” to support each other with illness, dying and bereavement. But what are ‘communities’? How can they be ‘enabled’? And what do communities themselves have to say?

This conference, organised by Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief, explores these questions from various perspectives, with a key focus on practical actions that can achieve positive change. There will be a range of speakers and workshops, a chance to connect with others and share local work.

We’re currently putting together a fantastic programme featuring international speakers, local innovations, and opportunities to share learning and make connections. Book your place here: 

Book Tickets: Death literate communities: learning together, supporting each other

Who should come to the conference?

If you are interested in any of the topics below, this conference is for you:

Building compassionate communities where people can help each other with death, dying, loss and care.  Demystifying death - increasing knowledge, skills and information around caring, dying and grieving. Implementing Palliative Care Matters for All - particularly Aim 1 - “enabling people and communities”.

Public health palliative care - influencing social and structural factors that affect people’s experiences of death, dying, loss and care. Creating more supportive environments and opportunities - for communities to share solace and provide practical support around death, dying, loss and care.

Death Literacy and Grief Literacy - the skills, knowledge, information, opportunities and environments people need to be able to navigate the ‘death system’ and provide informal support to each other.

Culture change and Talking about Death- making Scotland a place where people can help each other through the difficult times that can come with death, dying, loss and care.

We welcome volunteers, community members, social care staff, nurses, doctors, funeral directors, death doulas, soul midwives academics, policy makers, community development practitioners, teachers, service planners/managers and everyone else who is interested. 

Share your work at the conference

Are you involved in an interesting project or in an area of work that you would like to share with others?  We are planning a ‘quickfire sharing’ breakout session at the conference, where delegates can tell other delegates about their work.  You could tell people about your experiences of working in a particular community; a new project you’re working on; a resource you’ve produced; or a success you’ve had.  There are a limited number of 5-minute slots available - if you’d like to apply for a slot, please email rebecca@palliativecarescotland.org.uk with: your name; organisation; and a short description of what you’d like to talk about.  Remember, you’ll only have 5 minutes, so you’ll need to keep it brief.

There will also be exhibitor stalls around the main conference hall. If you’d like to book one, please email samara@palliativecarescotland.org.uk.

Overview of the day 

Morning Session: 10.15am-11.30am

Less heard voices – hearing others and getting their voices heard by people who make decisions.  

Jed Jerwood, Advanced Clinical Academic Art Psychotherapist at Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust. Honorary Associate Professor of Research at The Mary Stevens Hospice

Stories from communities in Scotland 

We explore different experiences, challenges, responses and approaches to death, dying and bereavement among different kinds of communities in Scotland.

Workshop sessions: 11.30am - 12.30pm

Delegates can choose one from the following 5 workshops.  Space may be limited.

Workshop A: Enabling Communities – practical steps for Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSPCs)

This workshop will explore how HSCPs can support Aim 1 of the Scottish Government Palliative Care Strategy is “Enabling people and communities: Scotland is a place where people of all ages and their communities can help and support each other to live as well as possible with life shortening conditions, dying, death and bereavement.”  This will include exploring what this means in practice and some examples of work underway.

Workshop B: Bereavement-friendly schools, care homes, workplaces and prisons. 

The Bereavement Charter Mark provides a framework and resources to enable schools, care homes, workplaces and prisons to become more supportive places for people when they’re bereaved.  This session will give delegates an opportunity to hear about some of the practical work that has taken place in these different settings, and find out more about how they can bring this framework into their own community.

Workshop C: Escape Room 

We have space for 5 people to take part in Powers, Puzzles and Prescience, an Escape Room from Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief.  Undertaken by teams of 3-5 people, participants are challenged to unravel a super-hero themed mystery by finding clues and solving puzzles.  Along the way teams will encounter family dynamics, future care planning, caring responsibilities and aging in the 21st century.  (We also hope to run the Escape Room at 9.15, and over lunchtime.)

Workshop D: Creative approaches to engaging with death, dying and bereavement issues

Be prepared to participate in some creative activities in this interactive workshop led by Jed Jerwood.

Workshop E: Sharing and connecting: work from Scotland and beyond

Looking for a workshop session with some variety? Want to connect with others and share your own work?  This workshop is your chance - it will feature series of short presentations by delegates, plus a chance to ask questions and talk about common issues.   Get in touch if you’d like to speak in one of the presentation slots - email samara@palliativecarescotland.org.uk 

Afternoon Session: 1.30pm - 3.30pm

Death Literacy - what is it, and how can it be increased?

Over the course of the afternoon, we will explore the concept of ‘death literacy’ in theory and in practice.  In this interactive session we’ll hear from a range of speakers and look at the topic from various angles.

Book Now

You can book a place at the conference here:

Book Tickets: Death literate communities: learning together, supporting each other