Dying is Environmentally Friendly

From the Editors desk...

Well, obviously the above headline is utterly ridiculous. You would have to be a terribly talented Ad Agency to get that concept to have legs, though Mr Stockwell had a winner with his "Noosa Civic environmental pitch", another ridiculous premise, BUT, it did get on the front pages and in the news, so maybe not so ridiculous after all??? It seems that the only way you can get interest from Council and Government, or from the papers and news is if you can put an "environmental" spin on something.

Everyone seems so concerned about saving animals, greenhouse gases and emissions, which is not a bad thing, but we seem to have lost the ability to actually 'care' about what is in front of our faces. Unless a politician can get a great photo opportunity promoting some wonderful new environmentally sustainable project, they are not interested. Fortunately Mr Peter Wellington is not only a very intelligent man, but also a kind and compassionate politician who is trying to help people in the form of the Sunshine Coast Community Hospice, and Queensland rural and semi-rural areas. He is putting a "Sunshine Coast Community Hospice Guest House Petition" to Parliament so that not only here on the Sunshine Coast, but also other regions like us, can have these "small short-term accommodation facilities for no more than three clients with a maximum of three permanent staff" to fill that void that we currently have in our region.

As many regular readers will know, I am a big supporter of the Sunshine Coast Community Hospice, having needed that sort of facility when my father died 3 years ago and not having it available. Unfortunately dying is not 'cute', or 'cuddly' and definitely not 'trendy', so in our marketing orientated world, it is hard to get support for a charity like this. The ladies behind the Sunshine Coast Community Hospice (and their myriad of dedicated volunteers) have worked very hard to raise funds to get their first hospice off the ground, a lovely place called Katie Rose Cottage, which has 2 places to assist 2 terminally ill patients. It has all come to a grinding halt due to council not being able to tick a box. Yep, what the few uncaring individuals of Redwood Road residents failed to do**, the Sunshine Coast Regional Council has achieved.(** As this is an opinion piece I won't even bother to waste any time on their inane objections, though would love to point out that recent sales in your road show that your precious 'property prices' have not lowered!). Hopefully Council can look at it all a tad more closely and find the appropriate 'box' for them.

It seems that a hospice does not fit into any boxes in council, therefore can't happen. For some reason it is possible in Toowoomba and Ipswich, but not here, it doesn't fit into the 'plan', though of course it was never considered in the plan in the first place, so bit hard to 'fit in'? It seems the difference between us and the likes of Ipswich is the backing and support of Council, who had the foresight to see and understand what a hospice is. Actually, put up your hand if you do actually know what a hospice is? Anyone from New Zealand or the UK, put your hands down, obviously you guys are very aware that a hospice is NOT a hospital and what it actually does.

In Australia we seem to have two choices when you die, 1. At home or 2. In a Hospital. Sometimes due to your family circumstances you can't die at home, you may have a large family, and to try to hire the special bed etc so that you can keep your loved one at home just may not be a tenable situation. This type of person then ends up just staying in Hospital, even though they may not need to be there? This is what happened with my dad and it was awful, even though nursing staff may be lovely, obviously your parent that is not going to be around next week as they are terminal is not a high priority. Not to mention the noise, moving around of beds, sharing rooms with others etc. (with Private or Public), when all you really want to do is just have a bit of privacy and the best quality time you can possibly have with the loved one that you know will not be there with you next week.

This is where the 3rd option comes in, The Hospice, the likes of Katie Rose Cottage means that your loved one does not need to be in a Hospital, or in the case of a youth, down in Brisbane away from all family and friends in their final days. A place like Katie Rose means that you can sit with your loved one and gaze on the lovely dam and maybe have that opportunity to talk about those things you always wanted to in peace and quiet. A place like Katie Rose means that you can maybe assuage some of that guilt (which you should not have in the first place!) you feel about not being able to afford to kit out home to have your child, sibling or parent die peacefully at home with you. In my situation, a place like Katie Rose Cottage could have given my family that chance to watch our last State of Origin with my dad, having that last laugh or argument (yes Lockyer is now a greater player than Meninga), without the stress of worry or intrusion to the other 3 men in his room. There are all sorts of reasons, all of them very personal as to why we need a Hospice culture here on the Coast. Katie Rose Cottage will not feed this need on its own, though we have to start somewhere, and hopefully in the future we have more of these small homes dotted around the coast (and other regions if Mr Wellington is successful) to help multitudes of families.

I hate the saying 'Dying with Dignity', from my experience there is no dignity in dying, though you can make it less stressful for all involved. The thought of dying is not one anyone likes to consider, though please, you may be in this situation one day where you or your loved one needs this type of caring home-like place for your final days, so take a moment to download the petition, or find out more about the Hospice, the ladies from the Hospice could give you a very detailed explanation of what a Hospice is and what their plans are for the Coast.

For you policy makers out there, yes, the Environment is important, yes, planning the future of our region is important, BUT so are PEOPLE... I urge everyone on Council to find out a bit more about the Hospice, and all State Politicians to remember that there are regions here in Queensland too, not just Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and not everyone has 'city' facilities to assist them, so listen to Mr Wellington when he presents his petition and again, think about 'people' and 'families', there may not be votes in the dying, but there are in their families!!!

Cheers,
Noely
The Editors Desk

PS. All you people who normally email me agreeing, adding extra info, or telling me I am a dill for my rant can now actually use the ''comments'' to let everyone know what you think, so feel free, see the comments area below :)

Permanent Link: Dying is Environmentally Friendly
Publish Date: 20 Oct 09

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