More than 21 non-profit agencies and local businesses are lined up to be part of the upcoming Dying to Know Expo scheduled for Thursday, August 25 at Club Narooma.
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"Research shows that 70 per cent of Australians want to die at home, but only around 14 per cent do. I believe the gap between what's wanted and what actually happens has a lot to do with people not knowing their options and not planning and discussing their wishes for dying well with their doctor, loved ones and community services,” expo coordinator Shanna Provost said.
The expo will cover a broad range of information that will help people to live life well right to the very end, such as how to set up an Enduring Guardianship, the importance of Advance Care Directives, how to have meals delivered and legal rights of older people. Free workshops on the day include understanding prepaid funerals, aspects of elder law and what a funeral celebrant does.
The event couldn't happen without the support of the Narooma Sporting and Services Club. "This event is seen by the club as important to the local residents as a means of gaining vital information about a topic that we will all need to know about at some stage of our lives. The club is proud to be able to fund this project in order to make it freely available to everyone who is interested,” said NSSC general manager Tony Casu.
According to the Groundswell Project, 75 per cent of us have not had end of life discussions; 45 per cent of people die without a will and less than 10 per cent of us die having written an advance care plan; 56 per cent of us have life insurance and the majority of those have insufficient cover.
Check out www.dyingtoknowday.org.au
These statistics are alarming given our aging population here in Eurobodalla Shire, Ms Provost said.
Forecasts suggest that the number of households in the Eurobodalla will increase from 15,672 in 2006 to 22,316 in 2031, with the average household size dipping slightly from 2.33 to 2.25 persons.
This is consistent with the prediction that the Eurobodalla population is aging. While the number of residents aged under 15 years will increase by an estimated 27.7 per cent over that 25 year period, the number of persons aged 65 years or over will increase by 68.3 per cent. This older age group will account for over a quarter of the Eurobodalla population (27.6 per cent).
