Places of solace: a starting point for a Compassionate Community?

Description

Background: Advocates for a community-centric approach to palliative care have highlighted the pivotal contributions of informal community networks, arguing that a substantial part of the end-of-life care and support is rooted in community interactions. These networks, often consisting of friends, family, and neighbors, are instrumental in providing both emotional and practical support to those facing serious illnesses and loss. Nevertheless, societal taboos surrounding end-of-life discussions impede openness, confining many of these conversations to professional care environments. A recent groundswell of movements and organisations is rising in Flanders, Belgium, stimulating engagement with serious illness, death, and bereavement. Although there has been a positive development in relation to the taboo surrounding loss and grief in public settings, there is still limited understanding of how people perceive and use places of solace.
Objectives: Our study aims to delve into the lived experiences of people using places of solace when faced with serious illness, death, or grief. The main research questions guiding this inquiry are: 1. What meaning do individuals attribute to places of solace? and 2. What role do these places fulfill within a neighborhood?
Design: Through a mixed-methods approach, existing out of 6 focus groups and an online survey for visitors and a subsequent survey was tailored for the coordinators.
Results: The results illuminate their role as sanctuaries for peace, mediums for the reciprocal exchange of solace, and arenas for normalizing discussions on death and loss. Places of solace foster community ties, enhancing public discourse and social cohesion around end-of-life issues. Findings suggest these sites serve both personal reflection and collective experience, challenging societal norms and promoting resilience.
Conclusion: This study serves as a clarion call for the acknowledgement of the importance of places of solace and integrate them into their initiatives and policies. It beckons policymakers, organizations, and communities to integrate these spaces into their frameworks, fostering environments rich in care, compassion, and collective well-being, particularly during life's most challenging moments, such as times of serious illness, caregiving, dying, and loss.

Periode	25 okt. 2024
Evenementstitel	8th Public Health Palliative Care International Conference: Building bridges
Evenementstype	Conference
Conferentienummer	8th
Locatie	Bern, SwitzerlandToon op kaart
Mate van erkenning	International