On 9 September 2024, Alison Bunce, founder of Compassionate Inverclyde, was honoured to speak at the Compassionate Communities in Palliative and End of Life Care Conference in Newry, Northern Ireland. The event, organised by the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care, brought together experts, practitioners, and community leaders to explore how compassion can shape health and social care across the UK and Ireland.
During the Compassionate Communities Conference, Alison had the privilege of meeting Professor Allan Kellehear, a leading pioneer of the Compassionate Communities approach and the original inspiration behind Compassionate Inverclyde. Professor Kellehear’s work emphasises that care for one another during illness, crisis, or loss is not solely the responsibility of health and social care services, it is a shared community duty.
The concept of Compassionate Cities is central to this approach. These are communities that acknowledge the natural cycles of life; birth, sickness, death, love, and loss, as part of daily life. A Compassionate City actively supports, encourages, and celebrates kindness and connection, especially for people facing life-limiting illness, chronic conditions, dementia, bereavement, or the challenges of long-term care.
Professor Kellehear’s well-known 95% rule highlights how individuals living with serious illness may interact with statutory health services for only a small portion of their day, around 5%. He asks, “What can we as a community do to support them for the remaining 95%?” This principle underpins the Compassionate Communities movement and has inspired projects like Compassionate Inverclyde.
In many western societies, death and dying have become medicalised, and essential community knowledge around supporting those at the end of life has declined. The Compassionate Communities model seeks to restore that collective wisdom by promoting death literacy, the practical understanding of what to do, where to find help, and how to provide comfort and care in times of loss.
By mobilising local skills, resources, and compassion, communities can create a culture where nobody faces illness or bereavement alone. Compassionate Inverclyde continues to embody this mission through its work in Inverclyde and beyond, connecting people, reducing isolation, and spreading kindness.
