Opinion: Palliative care service leaves memories of great dignity

Opinion: Palliative care service leaves memories of great dignity

Russell Armstrong – Dignity Therapy Expansion and Succession Project Manager 

In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to overlook the deep, personal stories that shape us. For those who know they are nearing the end of their life, reflecting on these moments can be profoundly meaningful. Recording those reflections for family and friends can be beneficial. Barwon Health’s Dignity Therapy service began in 2012 as part of the Palliative Care Program, seeking to provide support for people who wanted to reflect on their life.

Since 2014, Dignity Therapy has helped more than 300 palliative care patients reflect, record, and share their most significant memories. In a society that sometimes shies away from discussions of death and dying, this program is a quiet yet powerful reminder that everyone’s story deserves to be heard.

Dignity Therapy is more than recounting memories and experiences. With the assistance of our trained Dignity Therapy volunteers, this program helps people face challenging existential questions and the deep psychological, spiritual, and emotional challenges that arise during end-of-life care. It also offers families a way to look back on the parting reflections of their loved one. Dignity Therapy offers patients a safe space to explore their life’s meaning and articulate their final messages, whether it is for their self-reflection and closure, or as a cherished keepsake for family and friends. There’s a comfort in knowing that your life will be remembered, that your values, achievements, and even regrets will be acknowledged by those who meant the most to you.

Dignity Therapy has slowly woven itself into the fabric of palliative care at Barwon Health. The requests for Dignity Therapy have grown and highlights the human need to be seen and valued, even as we approach life’s end.

The reflections shared at the Dignity Therapy program 10-year anniversary celebration showed just how impactful Dignity Therapy has been. Staff and volunteers emphasised how the simple act of listening can help patients find peace. Each session with a patient is a reminder that lives are not merely defined by careers, achievements, or failures, but by relationships, shared moments, and the ways we touch one another’s lives.

Palliative care revolves around comfort and managing symptoms, and Dignity Therapy demonstrates that end-of-life care encompasses much more. It brings humanity into focus, honouring the emotional and spiritual facets of dying. These legacies are a comfort, a lasting connection when words may no longer be possible.

Barwon Health is expanding Dignity Therapy into other Barwon Health services where patients may face end-of-life care with time to engage in the reflection that Dignity Therapy offers. Barwon Health has also been providing support to other regional health services seeking to introduce Dignity Therapy, with financial backing from Hospice Foundation Geelong.

As we celebrate a decade of Dignity Therapy’s compassionate work, it serves as a beacon for what palliative care should strive to be. In facing death, it helps us remember what makes life truly worth living.