A+ R A-
12 Feb

Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror

Black Mirror

Last night's episode of Black Mirror set Twitter on fire as a truly engaging and thought provoking episode aired on Channel 4. The 'Be Right Back' story highlighted some of the same themes that we have addressed ahead of launch.

DeadSocial is a tool that will allow us to "live forever on the social web". It will enable us to create a series of messages in accordance with our 'social media will' that are are only distributed to our private social media accounts (initially Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin) on specific dates post death. Messages will support video, images and text. 

DeadSocial Digital Legacy

DeadSocial differs from the software depicted in Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror episode 'Be Right Back in many ways. To start off with DeadSocial doesn't use Artificial Intelligence and DNA to create and predict what a deceased user might say and how they would act. Instead an archive of organic, heartfelt messages can be saved by the living in the form of unreleased videos, images and text. These can later bring comfort for those we leave behind.

A study by Dying Matters found that 88% of GP's agree that if Britons felt more comfortable discussing dying, death and bereavement it would be easier to have our end of life wishes met. They also found out the Precisely 15% of us would like to "live forever".

In Black Mirror's  'Be Right Back' episode the tragic and unexpected end to Ash's life leaves stones unturned and goodbyes untold. DeadSocial allows for a safety net of messages to be created and only sent out once our life ends. This will enable each one of us to address death before it addresses us to help closure occur for those we leave behind. Furthermore, "DeadSocial will also allow for us to extend our relationships virtually even once our physical bodies fail us" (James Norris, CEO DeadSocial)

The possibilities for the use of DeadSocial as a platform for creativity is still largely unknown. Poetry, music, unreleased stories and tales could all be told as a final goodbye or in order to extend our lives and relationships virtually.

DeadSocial will be hosting a special launch party at the social media conference South by South West (SXSWi) on the 8th March. It is free to attend, a number of UK musicians will be performing and it wiil be open to all. However this (free) get together will be a ticket only event. If you are going to be attending SXSW this year and would like to reserve an invitation before the release you can do so by emailing Josh via: info@deadsoci.al 

 

12 Dec

Hospices receive a live video stream from a London pantomime this Christmas

The Broadway Barking will be streaming performances of their successful Christmas pantomime ‘Cinderella’ to hospices live across the UK this Christmas for free. 

This initiative is supported by DeadSocial and it is hoped that this project will roll out across the national network of hospices and hospice patient families via the umbrella organisations Together for Short Lives and the UK-wide charity, Help the Hospices. 

So far the hospices who have been granted access to the stream from the fairy Godmother (as shown in the photo above) are:

  • * Richard House
  • * St Josephs
  • * Northern Ireland Children Hospice
  • * Helen and Douglas House
  • * Children’s Hospice South West
  • * Claire House
  • * Childrens Charity Scotland
Cinderella at the Broadway will stream performances during this festive season and they encourage any other interested hospices or nursing homes across the country to get in touch. Live streaming and other content, like rehearsals, workshops and live Q&A sessions have been a feature of the Autumn season at the Broadway. Chris Mellor, Interim Creative Producer says: I am is a passionate advocate of this technology as a means of reaching a much wider audience, both in the comfort of their own homes, but equally as powerfully in hospitals and hospices across the UK. 

Cinderella live stream

The Broadway has teamed up this year with Arc Theatre marrying all the traditional fun of pantomime, with the theatrical ingenuity and contemporary comment that has set Arc apart for 30 years. To stream the pantomime live and for free to your hospice or nursing home contact Barry Burke via  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

03 Dec

Royal College of Nursing's End of Life Workshop

Royal College of Nursing

Last week I attended the (fully booked) workshop ran by the Royal College of Nursing supported by the NHS and in association with Dying Matters.  The day addressed death from a range of different perspectives and discussion was evoked from experiences and current policies. It was a thought provoking and moving day for a multitude of different reasons.

 

The event was chaired by Simon Chapman (Director of Policy & Parliamentary Affairs, The National Council for Palliative Care) and further insights delivered by Burnell Bussue (RCN Director, London Region), Les Storey, (FRCN, Preferred Priorities for Care National Lead, National End of Life Care), Ruth Crossley (End of Life Care Facilitator, North East London Community Health Services) and Margaret Kendall (Consultant Nurse In Palliative Care / End of Life Care Lead, Warrington and Halton)

One of the key themes addressed was the area of 'communication'. The process and strategy surrounding communication and death is hugely important especially when defining how one wants to die and when information needs to be articulated back to relatives and patients. Experiences shared by the speakers and those attending the workshop were both positive and negative in equal measures. 

The example from the workshop that I found most heartwarming focused on an elderly lady called 'Peggy'. Peggy was determined to watch 'Will & Kate's' Royal Wedding in April 2011. As Peggy neared her end of life it was unknown whether or not she would live to see the royal occasion on TV. On the day of the event carers and those around her decorated the room in royal memorabilia and Union Jacks to make the occasion as enjoyable for Peggy as possible. Peggy survived to watch the wedding before passing away a few days later.

 

Margaret Kendall, Consultant Nurse in Palliative Care

(Margaret Kendall Consultant Nurse in Palliative Care)

After a short tea break Margaret Kendall led an 'interactive session' that brought up and addressed the theme of communication around death. "If we do not talk about end of life care it makes it hard to make end of life care a priority in our current healthcare system". Death (aka “the final taboo”) is an area that we all need to address whilst alive to make life easier on us and those around us once we or someone we care about passes away.

I would like to thank the Royal College of Nursing, the NHS and Dying Matters for the session and allowing me to participate in the workshop. It was both hugely informative and moving. My admiration for nurses and healthcare professionals who dedicate their lives to caring and treating those as they approach their end of life has always been huge. However I left the workshop with further admiration for such professionals and certain in the knowledge that I would not be mentally strong enough to work as an end of life specialist, nurse, or carer.

29 Jun

NBC Video: Social Media Changing the Grieving Process

Moving story about how social media is changing how we are a society grieve for the deceased. The end of the video concludes with a feature on the benefits of using DeadSocial

 

22 May

Dying Matters Awareness Week

Dying Matters“Dying Matters is a broad based and inclusive national coalition of more than 15,000 members, which aims to change public knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards death, dying and bereavement”.
 
Last week dying matters ran an umbrella event called ‘Dying Matters Awareness Week’. It’s focus was to address death head on. In the UK and indeed the majority of the western world we tend to hide death away under the carpet and not address it until it addresses us.
 
We decided to attend two Dying Matters events during the course of last week to learn and share some of our experiences. The first event that we attended was at Richard House Children’s Hospice in London. The main goal of Richard House is to help families with children and young adults with life-threatening conditions or complex healthcare needs. Proceedings started with a welcoming lunch. Peter Ellis, Chief Executive of Richard House then extended the welcome and introduced a panel of experts and two young adults with complex medical conditions. A series of discussions and workshops followed. Focus groups then explored different themes surrounding death.
Dying Matter Week
Two days later we headed over to the Peace Hospice. The Peace Hospice is an adults hospice in Watford. Under the direction of Allison Troman-Nune the peace hospice ran a series of outreach arts focused projects into the local community. This work ended on Friday with an arts exhibition by local school children who addressed death through art.
 

Pushing up daisies

Comedian Alexei Sayle confronts attitudes towards terminal illness and society’s last taboo in the short film Last Laugh, produced as part of Dying Matters Awareness Week.

We would finally like to thank Dying Matters for instigating thought and awareness over the course of the week as well as Richard House & The Peace Hospice for your welcoming hospitality.

More Articles...

Page 4 of 9