This guide aims to support professionals to improve quality of life and provide peace of mind for young people and their families, by sharing insights from young people themselves and their families about discussing the end of life.
Download the Difficult Conversations for Young Adults guide.
About this publication
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This guide was developed in response to a gap in health professionals’ skills in having difficult conversations with the growing number of young adults with life-limiting conditions who come in to their care. This gap was one of the findings of the STEPP research project (a project which looked at examples of positive practice in transition to adult health settings for young adults with life-limiting conditions).
It aims to support professionals to improve quality of life and provide peace of mind for young people and their families, by sharing insights from young people themselves and their families about discussing the end of life. The guide describes feelings they experience when having conversations on this sensitive subject and gives ideas about how to approach it. It also aims to be a useful prompt that young people can use to broach the subject of end of life planning with family, friends and professionals.
Authors
This guide was written and collated by Carole O’Doherty and Jo Black from NCPC, with the support of Together for Short Lives.
Copyright the National Council for Palliative Care 2014. Published in February 2015.
