Episode 4: Dignity, decency and dying

“Death is something that affects us all and by not talking about it we make it harder.” Death is not infinitely deferrable, yet the successes of traditional modern Western medicine in increasing life expectancy have hugely impacted the human psyche of immortality. Where can people go to understand death, where is the narrative? Can we prioritise public health in a way that is reflective of social values? And how do we overcome the barriers of power to remove inequalities and prioritise human suffering? In this episode, Dr Libby Sallnow and Dr Afsan Bhadelia help unpack the philosophical and intricate topic of death and dying. Their recent report on the value of death, which delves into the unbalanced and contradictory picture of dying, helps frame this meaningful discussion around death and its complex systems. Read full show notes here Access transcript Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

Presented by Doctor, writer and TV Presenter Xand Van Tulleken and community health psychologist, UCL lecturer and self-proclaimed hippie, Dr Rochelle Burgess.This podcast is about public health, but more importantly, it’s about the systems that need disrupting to make public health better. In each episode, we’ll be challenging the status quo of this field, asking what needs to change, why and how to get there. Each month we’ll be joined by activists, scholars, artists, comedians and industry professionals to offer perspectives from the UCL community and beyond. We’re calling this podcast Public Health Disrupted because that’s exactly what we want to do. We are going to be breaking down disciplinary, sectoral and geographic boundaries to really understand the diverse and complex issues impacting our health. Issues as complex as structural racism and as broad as the role of tech in public health. New episodes will be made available monthly via the UCL Soundcloud, Acast, Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google PodcastIf there’s a question you’d like us and our guests to answer, email us at healthofpublic@ucl.ac.uk or tweet @UCLHealthPublic.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.