Demystifying Death Week
What’s it about?
Demystifying Death Week is about giving people knowledge, skills and opportunities to plan and support each other through death, dying, loss and care.
People usually want to do the right thing when someone they know is affected by serious illness, death or grief. But often they can feel awkward offering help, or worry about making things worse.
People can have questions about serious illness or dying. But often they don’t know who to ask.
Making plans when you’re healthy means there is less to think about when you’re ill. But people can put off making plans until it is too late.
Events and activities
Organisations, community groups, and individuals all across Scotland organise events for Demystifying Death Week. These can be anything from film screenings, death cafes, and information sessions to live performances, shared meals, and crafting workshops.
Check out last year’s Demystifying Death Week here: Demystifying Death Week 2024
Get involved
The next Demystifying Death Week will take place in May 2025 (exact dates to be confirmed).
Demystifying Death week is a collaborative effort. Each year all kinds of organisations and individuals organise events for people to discuss death, dying and bereavement. For example death cafes, discussion groups, lectures, film screenings, craft workshops, theatre performances, seminars and information stands.
If you’d like to get involved this year, please read on for more information...
Organise an event
Could you organise an event as part of Demystifying Death Week?
We have put together a series of guides to support people to design and hold Demystifying Death Week events:
- Designing your event
- Facilitation skills
- Event Ideas: templates and activities
- Hosting an online event: hints and tips
We also have lots of resources freely available that can be used for DD Week events, including films, information leaflets, event plans and exhibitions. Find out more here: Information and resources for event organisers
Communications
Your support promoting Demystifying Death week through your networks and media channels can make a big difference. Closer to the time we’ll publish a Communications Pack with key messages, social media ideas and a template press release.
Stay in touch
If you’d like to stay informed about Demystifying Death Week, you can sign up to join our mailing list here: Sign up
Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care
Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief and Demystifying Death Week are initiatives of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPPC) brings together health and social care professionals from hospitals, social care services, primary care, hospices and other charities, to find ways of improving people’s experiences of declining health, death, dying and bereavement. It also works to enable communities and individuals to support each other through the hard times which can come with death, dying and bereavement.
Dying matters
Demystifying Death Week takes place across Scotland. It coincides with Dying Matters Week, organised by our sister organisation, Dying Matters, in England and Wales. You can check out Dying Matters Week here: Dying Matters Week.
