Life, Death and Dignity

The Victoria Immigrants Refugee and Centre Society, This is Table Talk and Victoria Hospice invite you to join us for part 2 of our Life, Death & Dignity series, a collaborative community discussion exploring what makes life meaningful, what is a good death, and how do we preserve our dignity during the end of life?  

The series will bring  community voices together to  explore difficult questions around end of life care and the barriers which prevent access to upholding spiritual, mental, physical and emotional health. Death and dying can be a taboo subject in many cultures. We don’t often speak of our mortality, what we want to do before we die, and what makes life meaningful.  How can we as an individual and as a community prepare for our mortality while maintaining wellness?

The aim of this series is to provide voice for members of different communities to share and learn the different cultural protocols of life and death, and to identify gaps, barriers or unmet needs in our healthcare system. These sessions will prioritize voices from marginalized communities in an effort to identify social-determinants of health and barriers to access.

Part 2 will focus on the theme of “what makes a good death?”. By allowing for the many perspectives of our communities to celebrate each other, and hold space for one another in safe and empowering ways, The Table has been harnessing language to create community for more than a year now. To uphold social distancing, the event will be done over Zoom and will be recorded and casted live on our social media channels. Below are a few examples of the discussion questions that will occur during the event.

Discussion Questions:

• Has Covid-19 changed the way we think about the essentials in life?

• Has Covid-19 brought conversations of our mortality to life?

• Were these conversations stigmatized before? Why/why not? 

•  How can we feel safe talking about end of life with our friends and families or even our health care providers?

• What cultural/traditional  values aren’t being reflected or respected within our healthcare system currently especially in regards to end of life care?

• What is/makes a good death?

• Are there ceremonial practices, rituals or protocols that are important but hard to actualize in our current operating systems?

• Can you think of any quick but often overlooked solutions that can be done to improve how we receive end of life care?