What if the future of end-of-life care doesn't lie in hospitals, but within our communities?
In this episode, I sit down with Professor Samar Aoun AM, internationally recognised palliative care researcher, Founder and Chair of Compassionate Communities Australia, and one of Australia's leading voices in grief, bereavement and public health approaches to end-of-life care.
Samar shares how the death of her father and the contrast between community support in Lebanon and Australia inspired her groundbreaking research into grief and bereavement. Her work challenged traditional thinking and demonstrated that 90% of people cope with grief through the support of family, friends and community, while only 10% require professional intervention.
Together, we explore why Australia is facing a demographic "tsunami of death" as the population ages, why our health and aged care systems are struggling to keep up, and how compassionate communities can help people live, die and grieve well.
We discuss the importance of rebuilding death literacy and grief literacy, why caring networks matter, and how simple acts of kindness can transform the experience of caring, dying and grieving.
What you'll hear in this episode:
- How Samar's personal experience following her father's death shaped her life's work
- The groundbreaking grief research that found 90% of people rely on community support
- Why grief has become overly medicalised and what this means for society
- What compassionate communities are and why they matter
- Why Australia is unprepared for the coming "tsunami of death"
- The gap between where Australians want to die and where they actually die
- How the Compassionate Connector program reduced hospital admissions and improved social connectedness
- Why building your caring network before you need it is essential
- The difference between transactional care and relational care in aged care settings
- Practical ways every person can become part of a compassionate community
You may not be ready to die, but at least you can be prepared.
Take care,
Catherine
Connect with Professor Samar Aoun AM
Learn more about Compassionate Communities Australia: https://compassionatecommunitiesaus.org.au/
Learn more about Professor Samar Aoun's work at the Perron Institute https://www.perroninstitute.org/research/research-groups/samar-aoun/
& the University of Western Australia: https://www.uwa.edu.au/
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Professor Allan Kellehear – internationally recognised pioneer of the Compassionate Communities movement and public health approaches to palliative care. His work inspired much of the global compassionate communities movement and Professor Aoun's own research.
Learn more: https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/our-staff/k/allan-kellehear/
Professor Bruce Rumbold OAM – Australian researcher, educator and leading advocate for public health approaches to palliative care, bereavement and death literacy.
Learn more: https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/bdrumbold
Compassionate Cities: Public Health and End-of-Life Care by Professor Allan Kellehear
Book information: https://books.google.com/books/about/Compassionate_Cities.html?id=wvNOP8hpEk4C
We'd love to hear from you. Send us a text :-)
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In episode 110, we talk to Tim Booth, a paramedic and the best-selling author of You Called an Ambulance for What? and You Went to Emergency for What? We're giving you a chance to win a copy of his new book, Post-Mortem. To enter, send us a message via Spotify or Apple fan mail on this episode, or leave a comment on our social media. Tell us what stories you'd love to hear, or send us a question you'd like us to put to a future guest. Entries close September 13.
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