Compassionate Communities - Covid-19 Tweet Chat
On Saturday morning a Tweet Chat was arranged bt Public Health Palliative Care International. It explored what Compassionate Communities looks like today and what will it look like in the months ahead.
About Compassionate Communities
The principles of compassionate communities are applicable to both end of life care and to healthcare in general. Networks of support of family, friends, neighbours and community members, are the foundation of what matters most to those undergoing experiences of death, dying, loss and care giving. This is as true for the person with the illness as it is for those who make up the caring network. These experiences are not the sole domain cared for by professional health and social care services. They are social and cultural, involving all of us and are part of our cultural heritages.
These same principles, when applied across populations, result in dramatic improvements to health and well being. Good disease management, the domain of professional health and social care services, focus on harm reduction. Health and well being are more related to what matters most in life; the people we know and love in the places we know and love. Compassionate communities are programmes which work in this social ecology of care. The Compassionate City Charter is a set of 13 principles which cover the civic aspect of our lives, how we can become engaged in compassionate activities in the workplace, churches and temples, our state institutions, our media, our educational institutions amongst others.
Twitter chat
The three questions used to evoke thought and discussion were:
- Advance care planning (ACP) needs are clearly high at the moment with so many people unwell and being admitted to ICU and also people in palliative care needing to be discharged to home or visitors being limited.
- There have been some tensions about end of life planning though. In some countries people have been told by leaders to not start DNR conversations.What is the role of ACP now? Does Compassionate Communities have a unique contribution to the way we do ACP now?
- What can we do next? How can we support each other? What can @PHPalCare do to support you, your communities and your services?
Links to resources shared
Below are links to a number of the core resources shared during the Tweet Chat
- A message from the PHPCI Council regarding COVID-19
- Is ‘social distancing the wrong term?
- At the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic and humanitarian crises in Italy: Changing perspectives on preparation and mitigation
- Compassionate Communities Week
- Video consultations: how to set them up well, fast?
- How Hospitals, Hospices & Care facilities can use Skype to reduce loneliness during the Coronavirus
- Covid-19: information for bereavement services
- Coronavirus has upended our world. It’s OK to grieve
- Beating the virus
Images resources shared
Click on the images to view them in full.
Outcome
There was a number of lively conversations and threads that addressed areas ranging from digitising services and changing the ways in which support is provided to updating terminologies and methodologies.
Next Steps
- Apply learning into Compassionate Community projects, methodologies and frameworks.
- Disseminate information shared.
- Await future Compassionate Community Twitter Chats using the hashtag #ComComCovid on Twitter.
MyWishes Launch - Press Release
The Problem
Most people have not stated what they would like to happen should they die or lose capacity to look after themselves. They have not made plans for their estate or for their loved ones. Death is confusing and until now there has been no immediate benefit or reward for someone documenting and sharing their wishes with both professionals and those they care about.
The Solution
MyWishes breaks down the smoke and mirrors around end of life planning and provides free tools that encourage society to address both their physical and digital lives.
MyWishes utilises ’generation me’ and ‘gamification’ to provide immediate benefits and rewards. MyWishes hopes that this unique approach to end of life planning will change conversations and behaviours around estate ownership, digital legacy and advance care planning.
MyWishes users document details and preferences for their estate, healthcare, social care, digital legacy and funeral. These are then downloaded and shared (with a friend, family member, GP, Carer Solicitor etc). Users can publish their funeral playlist and bucket list before onto their public MyWishes page and release a series of goodbye messages for their loved ones after their death.
Some of the features include:
Once a user has registered and logged in, video tutorials provide support and guidance in each section. The MyWishes suite of features include:
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My Last Will & Testament (inc; social media gifting)
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My Funeral Wishes (inc; Funeral Playlist & Obituary publisher)
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My Advance Care Plan
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My Social Media Will (digital legacy planning)
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My Goodbye Messages (published after death)
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My Bucket List
Footnotes
Research and Development
MyWishes was developed with guidance, feedback and direction provided by members of NHS England, The Law Society, Hospice UK and an array of technology companies.
“By incorporating aspects of mainstream culture, such as gamification and mindfulness we hope to make end of life planning and self-care normal, sensible and mainstream”. - James Norris, Founder MyWishes
MyWishes was piloted with a number of hospices, charities and user groups across England. Due to today’s challenging circumstances, MyWishes has made the decision to make the software available to all, for free from today.
Further details
To publish and share this information
- Download this press release as a MyWishes Press Release as a PDF or Google Docs.
- View and Download JPEGs and GIFs from the Press Kit
Register for an account and document your wishes for free at www.MyWishes.co.uk
£10 donation provided to the NHS for every in-application solicitor referral
Donating to the NHS
We are living in uncertain times. One thing that is certain is that we need to support our dedicated friends, family and members of our community fighting against COVID-19. In the UK we have the amazing National Health Service (the NHS) helping us combat the spread and save the lives of those most negatively affected by the virus.
Until further notice MyWishes will donate £10 for each Last Will & Testament completed with one of our trusted solicitors to the NHS. This will help with the national effort to provide health boards with a little extra funding during this critical time.
Not checked by a solicitor |
Checked by a solicitor, video consultation and documentation completion |
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|---|---|---|---|
Individual |
Individual |
Couple |
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Basic willStraightforward will without the need for complex estate planning; appoints executors and guardians, deals with simple legacies and distribute estate. No trust structures incorporated into the will.
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£0
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£150
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£250
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Complex willComplex will may require tax planning building on the above service incorporating trusts (discretionary, or otherwise), address complex relationships, dealing with simple business and/ or agricultural assets.
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£0
|
£250
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£300
|
About our partner solicitors
MyWishes and all it's features are free to use. This includes the will writing tool.
A number of experienced, fully qualified and insured solicitors in England and Wales have agreed to support MyWishes users at a fixed fee. The fee is either £150 or £250 for an individual person and dependent on whether your Last Will & Testament is simple or complex. Once you have written you will on MyWishes you can download, print or share the document. They are able to provide completed and fully insured wills at this fixed price once a MyWishes user has spent time writing their will using MyWishes, unique and free to use will writing tool.
Once completed users share the document with a solicitor using the share button as shown above. Alternatively they can download or print the document before providing it to an external solicitor. When a user shares the document using MyWishes the solicitor will call or video call you using Skype, Google, Hangouts, Zoom or using the phone number you provide.
It will be fully reviewed and alterations made when it is suitable to do so. A few hours later the solicitor will send the completed Last Will & Testament to you. To complete the process and to make the document legally binding it will need to be signed and counter signed by two witnesses who are not beneficiaries of your estate as outlined within the documentation .
Upon completion a £10 donation will be paid to the NHS by MyWishes. If you would like to allocate your own money to a charity or a good cause within you Last Will & Testament this can be done within the Last Will & Testament's 'Charity Giving' section.
Further details about our will writing software can be viewed here.
New Leaflets for the general public, hospices and hospitals
Marcos out lead designer has designed the first MyWishes leaflet. These can be downloaded and printed by clicking here.
Once printed this can be folded into three. Both sides of the leaflet can be viewed below (before it is printed).
To download this leaflet (as a PDF) click here.
Bulgarian TV feature - MyWishes were recently featured on the BTV News
A film crew from Bulgaria recently flew over to London to learn about MyWishes, our goals and our mission. The feature was aired on the national TV station BTV. Here is a short snippet from the BTV evening news.
To learn more about MyWishes and how it works click here.
MyWishes included in Marie Curie's 'Thinking about your care and wishes ahead of time'
Marie Curie's 'Thinking about your care and wishes ahead of time' is for people living with a terminal illness, and their friends and families. It includes lots of information about planning for death ranging from the importance of an advance care plan to rehoming your pet. It has been written for all those who live within the UK and includes specific information for when differing approaches are required for those living within England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The resource is free to access and download from https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/help/support/terminal-illness/planning-ahead/social-media-online-accounts.
Hospice UK Conference 2019
This week we will be speaking at Hospice UK's national conference in Liverpool. James (our founder) will be speaking at 13:30 on Wednesday in a presentation titled Thinking ahead and looking back.
James will explore how the internet has changed the ways in which the internet has rapidly changed how we remember those who have died, and the ways in which we think about and plan for death.
Dying for change? Your opportunity to be at the forefront of the revolution.
We’ve known for many years that revolutionary change is needed in the way society approaches death and dying, and that we need radically new ways of meeting the challenge to provide effective, meaningful and compassionate care at scale.
We also know that genuinely revolutionary change is difficult to achieve amidst the daily pressures and constraints of maintaining and extending our services.
We’re inviting conference delegates to join us in a dedicated, highly participative workshop on 20 November to explore how a ‘prototyping’ approach to designing new services can help us to manage risk while unlocking new ideas and creativity.
In this workshop we’ll learn about prototyping and work with colleagues to plan small-scale practical prototypes to take forward at your workplace. You’ll then be able to join a ‘community of imagination’ in which participants produce radical and safe prototypes and learn from one another. Together we will be developing the insights and interventions that create radical solutions for the future.
This session isn’t for the fainthearted! You’ll need to come with open minds, ready and willing to participate fully - during and after conference.
The event management company which manages registration has now contacted everyone who registered interest in the Revolution workshop. The deadline for confirming interest is 25 October. There are a limited number of places at the workshop and places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
To learn more about Hospice UK and this year's conference click here
Upcoming event: 'Digital Estates: A Deep Dive into Managing Digital Assets'
About STEP
STEP is the global professional association for practitioners who specialise in will writing, family inheritance and succession planning. We have been asked by STEP to provide insights about the importance of planning for our digital assets (the possessions that we create, purchase and own online).
Meet us
If you are planning to attend and you would like to meet us please do let us know in advance.
MyWishes features in the Metro Newspaper
On Friday 12th July MyWishes were featured as an organisation that is using technology to help improve the ways in which society plans for death.
“MyWishes allows you to publish goodbye video messages at your funeral, complete a life-affirming bucket list; and assign trusted contacts to deal with requests for you subscription requests, social media channels, crypto and currency accounts…”
It’s great that the Metro Newspaper wrote a feature that highlights the importance of planning for death and why we all should make suitable plans for our us, our property and our loved ones.
We were featured in the @MetroUK on Friday. If you didn’t read the feature on your way to work here is a little POV video (complete with London Underground’s bumps, announcements and screeches) 🚇🎥🗞 #DigitalLegacy pic.twitter.com/lTkuLBm5vX
— MyWishes (@MyWishesApp) July 14, 2019
How to register with MyWishes
In order to use MyWishes you will need to create an account and validate your email address. Creating an account will allow you to revisit and update your the documents you have created at any stage.
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Registering with MyWishes
If you have not created a MyWishes account you can register and use the service for free by visiting https://app.mywishes.co.uk/register
It is important that you enter the country where you live. This will allow us to provide correct and relevant information to you whilst logged into MyWishes. Once you have entered the information asked you will need to click on the button shown below:
You will now receive an email from us to the email address provided. The email received will appear in your email inbox in a similar way to the email shown below. You will need to click on the 'Login to MyWishes and get started' button to validate your email account an start using MyWishes.
Once you click on the button your account will be validated and you will be redirected to the MyWishes login page. Now enter your email address and the password to start using MyWishes.
Once you have logged in to your new MyWishes account a videos to help guide you through each of the main sections.