Join Professor Samar Aoun, WA Australian of the Year 2023 and Perron Institute Research Chair in Palliative Care at The University of Western Australia, as she explores the importance of growing compassionate communities and how we can all get involved.

Compassionate Communities approach to care is about understanding that everyone has a role to play when it comes to illness, caring, death and grief. It provides a practical framework, based on research evidence, on how to achieve this partnering involvement and increase people's sense of connectedness so they're not isolated at their greatest time of need.

Learn how and why each of us can play a stronger role in supporting people who are caring, dying or grieving to increase their sense of connectedness in a time of need.

As communities we need to re-learn the old ways of caring for one another, Professor Aoun says: “We only die once, so let’s make it a good one”.

Professor Aoun is a global leader in the areas of public health, palliative care, and compassionate communities research and has influenced rapid system change and informed practice and policy at the national and international levels.

This is a one hour presentation with a Q&A session, followed by light refreshments.

This presentation forms a part of a City of Stirling project to help grow Compassionate Communities and is proudly supported by the Western Australian Department of Health, Perron Institute and The University of Western Australia.

We hope you can join us for this special community event!

If you or someone you know is struggling, there are multiple support services available and some are listed below:

- Lifeline WA - Crisis support and suicide prevention is available on 13 11 14 (24 hours). Website: https://www.lifeline.org.au/

- Griefline - Helpline available on 1300 845 745 from 8am to 8pm: 7 days (AEDT). Website: https://griefline.org.au/

- Connect Groups - Find a support group by calling (08) 9364 6909 or visiting the website: https://connectgroups.org.au/

For any queries about this event, please call the Community Services team on (08) 9205 8306 or email community@stirling.wa.gov.au