ABSTRACT
Introduction During the last decade a national conversation has been under way about death and the process of dying in the 26 counties that constitute the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Hospice Foundation, in collaboration with the Health Service Executive, launched national surveys, telephone interviews, personal interviews with health care professionals and patients, media discussions, and focus groups from across the country discussing death and dying. The research was conducted with a view to ascertaining the views of Ireland’s population about topics including: how a “good death” is understood, how hospitals can better deliver end-of-life care, wishes about being informed of a terminal condition, role of families in end-of-life decision making, advance directives, pain management, use or refusal of life-prolonging technologies, and physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. The results of research are numerous publications designed to be user-friendly and accessible and aimed at informing and educating the Irish public, health care professionals, patients, and families. Educational initiatives continue to come from the Irish Hospice Foundation, as well as courses on death and dying that are now appearing in university course listings, all indicating the national conversation continues.
