A movement to improve the way we care for each other at the end of life continues to grow with the Dying to Know week of events.
On August 2, there will be a Compassionate Communities, Reframing Palliative Care Symposium.
The symposium will have six guest speakers, including Bunbury's own Perron Institute South West chair of compassionate communities Samar Aoun.
Professor Aoun said the symposium would show the growing interest in adopting compassionate communities approach to support people with life limiting illness or chronic diseases.
"Recognising that 95 percent of care provided to people at end of life is informal care, and only 5 percent is provided by formal services," she said.
Professor Aoun will be speaking at the symposium about how the Compassionate Communities connector program supports the terminally ill.
On August 6,7,8 will be a range of events including a tour of Bunbury's crematorium and memorial gardens, tour of William Barrett and Sons Care Centre and Dying for a Cuppa at the Death Cafe.
Professor Aoun said the events were about the practical ways we could build the death literacy and the grief literacy of the community.
"Death literacy is knowledge about and understanding of the death system - which is all the things that are Death, Dying, Loss and Grief (DDLG) related in a society," she said.
"Grief Literacy is about the capacity to access, process, and use knowledge regarding the experience of loss."
Other events as part of Dying to Know Day will be a talk on improving social connectedness, a community discussion on how to become a compassionate city and a support after suicide seminar.
The symposium event is held in Perth, but people are encouraged to register to stream online and it is free.
This can be done by visiting eventbrite.com.au and searching Compassionate Communities reframing palliative care.
For more information about the other local events, visit comcomnetworksw.com
If you are in crisis and need to talk to someone, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14
