Rochester’s Dying to Know Day event has been hailed a “huge success” after more than 80 people attended despite poor weather, with organisers now planning further community conversations about death, dying and end-of-life care.

Organised by local end-of-life doula Esther Guinea, the free event brought together about 80 community members and 12 presenters to discuss topics including palliative care, advance care planning, voluntary assisted dying, funeral planning, legal matters, grief and caring for loved ones.

The event, held on August 10, was initially capped at 100 attendees and sold out, with Ms Guinea continuing to receive requests from people hoping to attend.

“It ended up being sold out,” Ms Guinea said.

“All the tickets got taken, which was a hundred tickets, and I still had people asking me if they could attend.”

The event was warmly received by both attendees and presenters alike, with Ms Guinea saying the response had been overwhelmingly positive.

A presenter described the event as informative and “beautifully lighthearted”, while praising the range of speakers and the event’s MC.

Ms Guinea said one of the most meaningful outcomes was helping people better understand the work of an end-of-life doula, and pointing them towards services they might never have known existed.

“They’ve had more of an understanding about what an end-of-life doula does,” she said.

“It’s just opened up more channels for people, more resources.”

The event also encouraged attendees to openly discuss death and dying, with Ms Guinea saying people were willing to ask a wide range of questions.

“We had lots of good questions, and there was a lot of time to ask questions,” she said.

“I think they weren’t shy about talking about it.”

A presentation from a local funeral director was particularly well received, with Ms Guinea praising the speaker’s down-to-earth approach and willingness to explain the range of choices available to families.

She said the event also shone a light on how much more the community could learn about palliative care and the support on offer for unpaid carers.

“A lot of people aren’t connected very well with palliative care at the moment,” Ms Guinea said.

She said many people were also unaware of the support available to unpaid carers.

“It just gave lots of information that people probably didn’t know.”

For Ms Guinea, Dying to Know Day is ultimately about encouraging people to have conversations that can make difficult experiences easier for families.

“The day is about having the conversations that matter about death, dying and how we want to live,” she said.

“By getting things sorted out, planning, that means you can live well.”

Ms Guinea urged people to have those important conversations with their loved ones sooner rather than later, and to get their wills and advance care planning documents in order.

“I encourage everyone to make their wishes and preferences known to loved ones and to get your will and other advance care planning documents sorted out because it’s a real gift to your family who are left behind,” she said.

Ms Guinea’s own experience of losing her brother to stage four lung cancer in 2023 was a major factor in her decision to become an end-of-life doula.

“My brother passed away in 2023 from stage four lung cancer,” she said.

“That’s how I became an end-of-life doula, because he had one.”

She said her work was also focused on helping people develop a healthier understanding of grief.

“I want people to be able to have grief that sits gently and is just the sign that you love someone,” she said.

Ms Guinea is now looking ahead, with monthly community conversation events being planned for Rochester and Echuca from September.

Potential future events are also being explored in Tongala and Heathcote.

“I want to start increasing more opportunities for conversations,” she said.

“Understanding death and dying helps us process grief in healthy ways, prepare for our end-of-life decisions, support others through loss and reduce fear and anxiety.”

She said talking openly about fears surrounding death could help people feel less alone.

“We can’t take the unknown away, but we can help you feel less alone in it,” she said.

Ms Guinea said she hoped the wider community would also consider how people could be supported to remain at home at the end of their lives.

“Seventy per cent of people want to die at home but only 14 per cent do,” she said.

“We should be looking after our people at home. We can look after our people at home with the support of the community.”

She said health professionals and non-medical end-of-life doulas could work together to provide more holistic support for people and their families.

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