Compassionate communities are communities that develop social networks, social spaces, social policies and social conduct that support people through the many hours, days, weeks, months and sometimes years of living with a life-threatening or life-limiting illness, ageing, grief and bereavement, and long-term caregiving.
Compassionate Communities are everywhere. They existed long before many of us in public health palliative care embraced them as part of the approach to acknowledging that death, dying, loss, grief and caregiving is everyone’s business and not only the job of our health service and health professionals.
Recent Australian research on the implementation of Compassionate Communities found that:
There are a number of obstacles and barriers faced by community leaders - including for example managing gatekeepers and misinformation.
The importance of a clear understanding of Community Development as the foundation to drive strategies and actions.
(Click on the image to read the report)
The Death Literacy Institute aims to promote and support the best practice in compassionate communities. We have experience in:
Community development - citizen/community led programs, health and aged care organisations
Arts and Health based programs
Evaluation and research