Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) has launched a new strategy and announced a number of practical supports for the public under its Dying Well at Home programme. These resources are aimed at helping people with life-limiting illness, their families and carers to navigate the challenges at the end of life.
Health Minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, launched Irish Hospice Foundation’s 2025-2030 strategy – Every Death Matters: Transforming Dying, Death and Bereavement.
The Dying Well At Home programme was established in direct response to research highlighting the gaps in support during the final stage of life. As part of today’s announcement, IHF introduced two new resources: its eLearning module and an information resource entitled: When Someone You Care About is Dying At Home – What to Expect. Both resources are available to the public free of charge through IHF’s website at hospicefoundation.ie
The eLearning programme aims to support formal and informal carers providing end of life care at home. It is an accessible, free eLearning resource that is aligned with the National Palliative Care Framework and its modules include:
- Palliative and End-of-Life Care
- Advance Care Planning
- Communication Skills at End of Life
- Preparing to Care for Someone at Home at End of Life
- Practical Tips when Caring for Someone at End of Life
- Loss, Grief and Bereavement
These practical supports will work alongside the existing freephone Information & Support Line, launched by IHF last October, with the aim of delivering direct signposting and support to patients and their loved ones navigating palliative care or facing end of life.
Speaking at today’s strategy launch, CEO of Irish Hospice Foundation, Paula O’Reilly, said, “The Dying Well at Home programme is a direct response to a societal need uncovered by research undertaken by IHF. I am delighted to be able to unveil the practical supports available to the public through this programme on the same day that we are revealing Irish Hospice Foundation’s roadmap up to 2030.
“As a national charity committed to supporting people around dying, death and bereavement, our progress to date has been enormous, but there is a huge amount of work still to do in this space. These latest initiatives are a great step forward in empowering the public around end-of-life care. We are enormously grateful to the donors and funders who make the development and delivery of this essential work possible.”
Research by Irish Hospice Foundation shows that although more than seven in ten (76%) Irish people would like to die at home, only one in four (23%) people achieve this wish. According to IHF, people may spend time in a range of clinical settings in the final months of their life.
IHF Chairperson, Jean Callanan, outlined the important role that Irish Hospice Foundation has played in Irish society for almost 40 years and highlighted how the latest strategy is relevant in an Ireland still feeling the effects of the pandemic.
“More than 35,000 people die in Ireland every year, but changing demographics mean that this will increase by 68% in the next two decades. This shift calls for a change in our approach to developing this strategy reflects the need to take a truly innovative approach in this space.
