'Add life to days, not days to life': Navigating your loved one's death

Most of us know little about the practical side of dying, and that can be exacerbated in rural and regional areas by lower levels of palliative care support.

That is according to HammondCare, a health and aged care provider in Sydney, which is providing free end-of-life workshops in the central west.

Suzanne Sara, clinical nurse specialist - who has been working in palliative care for 13 years - said the number-one thing people ask her when they are faced with a loved one dying is how long the person has to live.

The workshops she will host in Dubbo and across the region will discuss dying as a part of the cycle of life, and would be appropriate for anybody who has, is, is about to, or is curious about, caring for a loved one at the end of their life.

"[Dying] is a process that's going to happen to everybody at some stage," Ms Sara told the Daily Liberal.

"[We want] to take away the elephant in the room and get people talking about it and talk about what normal dying can look like and help empower people with practical knowledge and tools around caring for somebody at the end of their life."

The four-hour presentation, called Last Days, will teach attendees how to "walk alongside somebody" who has a life-limiting illness, and how to include them in death planning.

" ... Talking about future planning when people are well enough to have those conversations and how that will look like in the future, where they want to be, how they want to be a part of the process," Ms Sara said.

She said the workshops were about "really opening up the conversation" about dying and palliative care - what it is and what it isn't - as well as how to live well while we still can - "adding life to days rather than days to life".

The courses will be practical and will teach people how to prepare.

"If people feel more prepared and empowered sometimes it's less frightening and more empowering with a plan in place," Ms Sara said.

"Very few people think about it at length - it's such a taboo topic ... "

The Last Days end-of-life face-to-face workshops will take place from 9.30am to 12.30pm in Dubbo on March 5 at Dubbo RSL, on March 6 at Bathurst Panthers, and on March 7 at Orange Ex-Services.

There will also be online workshops on March 25, 26 and 27.

Further, there will be a special session called Last Days Dementia, about caring for somebody who is dying with dementia, and this will include information about changes in the brain, navigating pain and mobility.

For bookings and information, go to hammond.com.au/lastdays