Compassionate Communities: And why they are coming to a community near you?

Compassionate Communities: And why they are coming to a community near you?

This is an introductory talk about the nature of ‘compassionate communities’ and how these civic initiatives emerge – necessarily - from of our current understandings and practices in public health and end-of-life care. I will outline the main ideas and practices of this new public health approach to end-of-life care, and then describe the reasons it must involve every major civic sector – including local businesses, schools, and cultural organisations. End-of-life care, however surprising this might seem to some, is every bit everyone’s business. The global diversity and spread of this approach will also be briefly described.

About the speaker:  Allan is Professor in Health & Social Care at Northumbria University. He has worked as a professor in palliative and end-of-life care in Australia, Britain, Japan, and the USA. He is widely acknowledged to be the founder of the public health movement in hospice and palliative care.