Conversations about death and dying can be difficult at the best of times. Having this conversation with someone with an intellectual disability might seem even harder.
Just like everyone else, people with intellectual disabilities need to understand the issues that come with the end of life and to assist with this a new online toolkit has recently been launched.
Talking End of Life (TEL) is a resource which shows health professionals, families and disability support workers how to teach people with an intellectual disability about the end of life. It is the result of ten years of research by top thinkers in the field.
The twelve online modules cover how to teach about the end of life, managing feelings and cultural beliefs, loss, grief and mourning, and how to plan for dying and death. Helpful videos, animations and weblinks to other resources are also provided.
You can work through the modules individually but each module also comes with a facilitators guide so you can run through it as a group.
TEL is free to use and is available online – click here.