Understanding the efficacy and potential of the Art of Dying Well/SVP end of life companions project (Plymouth Marjon with St Mary’s University).
The goal of the end of life companions project is to:
- support families and individuals facing death: individuals who are dying, their families and friends whose loved one is dying, and the recently bereaved
- provide hope and companionship at the most difficult time of one’s life
- help people be less frightened through a circle of support (having a community of accompaniment throughout the journey can help you to prepare by bringing consolation and spiritual peace)
- evaluate and disseminate key learnings from the project so that it influences social policy regarding healthcare and has a long-lasting legacy
- disseminate and share learnings and best practice with other groups and encourage other organisations to consider a similar training programme.
About the project
Julie Etchingham, ITV News journalist and broadcaster, who worked with the Art of Dying Well to develop end of life companions training content, said:
If you're going to be an end-of-life companion, you're just walking that path with somebody. And sometimes that means they need practical help and sometimes it means they need spiritual uplift. Some people aren't religious and just need companionship. And the companionship in the end is what counts in all of those settings.
The thing that really impresses me most about those who do this work, is just the presence of a person, just to be there. Sometimes that's all it takes. You don't need to be a clinician. There are aspects of everybody's personalities that are valuable in people's last days and hours. And I was just really impressed by those who are already doing the work.
Publications and outputs
- Understanding how volunteer companionship impacts those during the end of life: A realist evaluation Downey, J., Cooper, S., Bassett, L., Dubeibe Fong, A., Doherty, M., & Cornwall, J. (2024). Understanding how volunteer companionship impacts those during the end of life: A realist evaluation. Death Studies, 1–10.
- Combining realist evaluation and transformative evaluation to advance research in palliative care: The case of end of life companionship. Palliative medicine, 37 (3) (February 2023). pp413-420. ISSN 1477-030X DOI:
- End of life companionship: equipping volunteers with basic skills to offer support in the community: abstract published by BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, p18 (November 2022).
Contribution to conference
- St Vincent de Paul Society volunteers report positive benefits for their beneficiaries from End of Life Companionship. Parallel Oral Session 1: Empowering Older People Moving Towards End-of-life British Society of Gerontology 52nd Annual Conference, UEA (July 2023).
- Volunteer companionship: Developing theory on what works, for whom, in what circumstances and why? Global Research & Future Innovations in Best Care for the Dying Person. International Collaborative for Best Care for the Dying Person, Seventh Annual Research Conference, Liverpool, UK (October 2022).
- End of life companionship: Equipping volunteers with basic skills to offer support in the community [poster]. Hospice UK Conference, Glasgow, UK (November 2022).