In 2019 we launched The Departure Lounge, our most ambitious public engagement project to date. We aimed to encourage a national conversation on death and dying, & use what we heard to help policymakers and end-of-life researchers.
- The pop-up installation was open for a month in summer 2019 in south London. It was free and open to all.
- A website showcasing material and stories from the exhibition went live in summer 2019. Explore the follow-on website.
- The flatpack kits took key elements of the hub installation and enabled us to take these conversations to communities around the UK. These kits were distributed free in autumn 2019.
- The follow-on website www.life-support.uk re-used key elements of the installation in a new mobile-friendly format to help people navigate conversations about death in the context of COVID-19.
Here’s 5 things we learnt starting conversations about death.
Read an overview of the project.
Read our independent evaluation report.
The pop-up installation
Modelled on an airport departure lounge, The Departure Lounge installation encouraged people to talk about death, dying and what it means to have a good death. It was staffed by researchers, doctors and hospice workers with experience of death and dying and was based in Lewisham Shopping Centre, south London. Lewisham was chosen to be the starting point for The Departure Lounge as a busy, diverse area which is also the birthplace of the hospice movement. The pop-up installation opening dates were chosen to coincide with Dying Matters Awareness Week (13-19 May 2019).
The Departure Lounge was developed by the Academy of Medical Sciences with design agency The Liminal Space.
We want our taboo-busting conversations about death and dying to reach far and wide.
We created The Departure Lounge as an interactive website. Explore at www.departure-lounge.org #thedeparturelounge
We created flat pack versions of The Departure Lounge and gave them to people across the UK.
These flat packs were given in late 2019 to people interested in sparking conversations about death and dying across the UK. They contained materials and resources to prompt discussion and thought around the end of life, and what it means to die well, based off the original Lewisham installation. We hope that people will use and re-use the flat packs to host their own events on death and dying. You can read an evaluation report for the flatpacks on the side of this page.
We keep showcasing The Departure Lounge to help others learn from our experience.
We have taken The Departure Lounge to the 2019 British Science Festival in Coventry, and to as a installation to the Science Museum Lates. We have talked about our work with the death and dying community - "one of the most generous communities you will ever work with" - at the Stempra (UK STEM Public Relations Association) Press Officer training day. We have hosted free drop-in events for science communication professionals about our experiences on the project, delivered sessions at the European Science Engagement Association annual conference and presented at the Cicely Saunders Institute Seminar Series for palliative care experts.
We have supported the redevelopment of our content into a new digital tool: Life Support.
Design agency The Liminal Space re-used our original soundbites, interviews and themes from The Departure Lounge installation to create a new digital tool to navigate conversations about death in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic - a way to guide challenging conversations when we are far from those we love. Explore at www.life-support.uk (optimised for mobile browsing) and read more about the Life Support project in design magazine Dezeen here.
Our work to encourage conversations around death and dying recieved extensive media coverage:
We also talked to some of our researchers for insights into death and dying:
"Our research shows that half of all people with dementia will attend an emergency department in their last month of life." - Dr Katherine Sleeman. Read more
"My work involves analysing the health records of more than a million patients to find out exactly what’s behind health inequalities" - Dr Jayati Das-Munshi. Read more
"My passion stemmed from watching a very close friend die from the side effects of her leukaemia treatment. I realised that if we didn’t measure systematically the harms as well as the benefits of treatment, then we were not serving our patients well." - Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield FMedSci. Read more
Our policy workshops and public dialogue used insights from The Departure Lounge to help ensure medical research and policy for end of life care, death and dying develops in line with people's views.
1. Initial workshop on the end-of-life policy landscape
The Academy convened a workshop on 12 February 2019 to discuss policy issues associated with end of life and palliative care, bringing together stakeholders from a range of backgrounds, spanning the health and care sectors, patient groups, and faith experts, amongst others. The meeting was chaired by Professor Irene Higginson OBE FMedSci, Professor of Palliative Care and Director of the Cicely Saunders Institute, King’s College London. The workshop aimed to identify potential areas that might lead to future policy activity by the Academy and others. The workshop report and a short background briefing are available from the side of this page.
Speakers included:
- Dr Sabine Best, Head of Research, Marie Curie
- Professor Kay-Tee Khaw CBE FMedSci, Emeritus Professor, Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge
- Dr Kathryn Mannix, Palliative care doctor and author
- Dr Katherine Sleeman, NIHR Clinician Scientist and Honorary Consultant in palliative medicine, King’s College London
- Dr Mehrunisha Suleman, Research Associate, Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge
- Professor Bee Wee, Director for End of Life Care, NHS England
2. Public dialogue on death and dying
During The Departure Lounge pop-up installation we partnered with Ipsos MORI for a programme of public dialogue around quality of life and how comfortable people feel talking about death. We used a series of workshops with selected members of the public, together with qualitative visitor interviews, to capture public views on death, dying, end of life care and the role of research in this area. A full report of the findings and recommendations is available from the side of this page.
3. Follow-up end-of-life care policy catalysis workshop
We convened a second policy workshop on 30 January 2020 to define next steps for the sector in light of the outcomes of the public dialogue work and the project as a whole, building on key themes from the initial workshop. Stakeholders came together across policy, academia, the NHS, and patient and public involvement to define the key policy gaps and immediate priorities for end of life and palliative care, identify potential deliverable solutions, and discuss opportunities for the future. Read about the workshop here and catch up with our summary report of the workshop, co-Chaired by Professor Dame Jessica Corner DBE FMedSci and Professor Irene Higginson OBE FMedSci, also available to download from the side of this page.
The Departure Lounge has been developed by the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Liminal Space, with support from The Health Foundation and Wellcome.
The Academy is also grateful for a core grant from the Government Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy that was also used to support this project.
The Departure Lounge was developed with expert advice throughout 2018 and 2019 from:
- Professor Dame Jessica Corner FMedSci, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange, University of Nottingham
- Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield FMedSci, Director of Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer and Professor of Psycho Oncology, Brighton and Sussex Medical School
- Baroness Finlay of Llandaff FMedSci FLSW, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Cardiff University, and Vice President, Hospice UK
- Professor Keith Hawton FMedSci, Professor of Psychiatry, Consultant Psychiatrist and Director, Centre for Suicide Research, Oxford University
- Professor Irene Higginson OBE FMedSci, Professor of Palliative Care & Director of Cicely Saunders Institute, King's College London
- Professor Diana Kuh FMedSci, Professor of Life Course Epidemiology and Director, MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London
- Professor Karen Luker CBE FMedSci, QNI Professor of Community Nursing, University of Manchester
- Dr Amara Nwosu, Academic Clinical Lecturer in Palliative Medicine, Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute Liverpool
- Mr Toby Scott, Head of Communications and Campaigns, Dying Matters
- Dr Katherine Sleeman, NIHR Clinician Scientist, King's College London
- Dr Maria-Paulina Socarras, Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Human Tissue Authority
- Ms Eve Wilson, Bereavement Supporter Project Manager, Cruse Bereavement Care
We would also like to thank the many individuals and organisations who have helped develop content and shared stories from their work, patients and staff. In particular: St Christopher’s Hospice, Dying Matters, Marie Curie, Macmillan Cancer Support, HealthTalk, Hospice UK, Sue Ryder and Compassion in Dying.