The Forum Report

The Forum was designed by the Irish Hospice Foundation to engender greater public discussion on end of life and the care of those at the end of their lives.  However, the exercise was also very much a listening one,       to identify participants' views about end of life issues, and their wishes and aspirations for the care and treatment of those at end of life.

This Forum Report report brings together the views of those who contributed to the Forum by making submissions, by presenting papers to workshops, and by participating in discussions at workshops and public meetings.  The Report is a comprehensive analysis of the rich and varied material - factual, experiential, theoretical - presented to the Forum.  It is organised thematically into chapters, the themes having emerged organically in the course of the analysis.

The report does not seek to present the latest national or international thinking on any aspect of palliative or end of life care.  Its purpose is, rather, to communicate the main themes, messages and issues raised by contributors to the Forum.  It thus provides a baseline document, which then informed a Draft Action Plan.  This means that those who contributed to the process  have played a key role in shaping the National Council of the Forum's current Work Plan.