{"id":24181,"date":"2013-01-30T20:04:48","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T19:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=24181"},"modified":"2013-01-30T20:04:48","modified_gmt":"2013-01-30T19:04:48","slug":"richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Smith: A jolly afternoon with Dying Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RichardDying Matters is an organisation that aims to raise awareness of dying, death, and bereavement, and this is Dying Awareness Week<\/a>. \u00a0The organisation exists because of the mass denial of death in our society that leaves people ill prepared for dying and death and contributes to so many people dying badly.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve joined Dying Matters (anybody can, it\u2019s free, and there are now 30 000 members), and I went to the launch of Dying Awareness Week. I arrived late, and the first thing that hit me was that the room was packed with perhaps 300 people. The event was sold out. As I expected the mood was jolly: I expected that because living well and dying well go together.<\/p>\n

This year Dying Matters has five aims\u2014get everybody to make a will, plan their funeral, make an advanced directive, register as an organ donor, and share their plans with your loved ones. (I can\u2019t take the phrase \u201cloved one\u201d seriously since rereading Evelyn Waugh\u2019s book with that title, but it\u2019s hard to come up with an alternative: \u201cpartner,\u201d \u201cfamily,\u201d or \u201cfamily and friends,\u201d don\u2019t work as not everybody has a partner or family, \u201cfriends\u201d on its own is insufficient, and \u201cimportant others\u201d is horrible.)<\/p>\n

Only a third of Londoners have told their loved ones whether they want to be buried or cremated, which can leave the bereaved in something of a quandary. Suzanne Rich from Lewisham told us about Ronnie\u2019s funeral. He and Lilian had been married for 60 years. He died suddenly, but he\u2019d said what he wanted. There were big cars, the right music, a well informed, witty speech by the vicar, the right kind of clothes, and a great event afterwards in one of his favourite places. Everybody agreed the funeral was \u201cso Ronnie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six years later Lilian died, and the funeral was not so good. She was in a pink shroud she would have hated. Her name was spelt wrongly on the coffin. The vicar got several things wrong in his speech, and the wake was in a room in a pub, which she would not have wanted. Everybody agreed that the funeral was \u201cso not Lilian.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rich then told us that Ronnie and Lilian were her parents. She\u2019d become distant from her mother before her death.<\/p>\n

To avoid a funeral that is \u201cso not you\u201d complete the form on your funeral wishes<\/a>, post it to the National Association of Funeral Directors, and share it with your loved ones. I think of it as my chance to be on Desert Island Discs, although my brother tells me he\u2019s not keen on three hours of experimental jazz and may have to make some adjustments.<\/p>\n

Roger Kirkpatrick stunned the audience by telling us that he\u2019d experienced dying without any pain. But first, pursuing his theme of life\u2019s shocking unpredictability, he quoted from Graham Greene\u2019s short story \u201cA shocking accident.\u201d A schoolboy, Jerome, is called to the headmaster\u2019s study to hear some bad news. Jerome is an imaginative boy and has \u201crecreated\u201d his father from a \u201crestless widowed author into a mysterious adventurer\u201d who perhaps was a gunrunner or in the British Secret Service. Kirkpatrick read from the story:<\/p>\n

“I’m afraid your father was very seriously hurt indeed.”<\/p>\n

“Oh.”<\/p>\n

“In fact, Jerome, he died yesterday. Quite without pain.”<\/p>\n

“Did they shoot him through the heart?”<\/p>\n

“I beg your pardon. What did you say, Jerome?”<\/p>\n

“Did they shoot him through the heart?”<\/p>\n

“Nobody shot him, Jerome. A pig fell on him.”<\/p>\n

You can read the full story here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Kirkpatrick experienced dying when he was 19, some 40 years ago. He was in a Lockheed plane flying south from the Canadian Arctic. The pilot explained that the wheels of the plane had become stuck, so they would have to crash land. Worse the fuel tanks were on the underside of the plane so that when the plane crash landed they would light and burn the passengers to death. To try and improve the chances the pilot flew around for five hours to burn off the petrol, but he said that it wouldn\u2019t make much difference as the plane would simply explode.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all convinced that we were going to die,\u201d said Kirkpatrick, but oddly there was no fear. Time melted away, and he experienced \u201cirritated regrets.\u201d The fact that he wouldn\u2019t be able to say goodbye to his family really upset him. He wanted to tell them that he loved them, was grateful for their care, and was sad that he wouldn\u2019t see them again. The other thing that bothered him was that he was \u201cgoing to die a virgin.\u201d Anybody who has been a 19 year old, male virgin will understand this.<\/p>\n

The plane did crash land but did not explode. Kirkpatrick and his colleagues ran from the plane. In the morning, concluded Kirkpatrick, I was alive and fine, most of the day I was dying, and in the evening I was alive and well again. Life is shockingly unpredictable.<\/p>\n

During the interval a woman from Liverpool at my table told us how she wanted the full works at her funeral, black horses with feathered plumes, a glass coffin, and everybody in black. \u201cNobody will be admitted unless they\u2019re in black, and I want everybody miserable and sad.\u201d She\u2019d seen a television programme about sky burials and been tempted, but she thought that Liverpool Council wouldn\u2019t allow one; and, she bemoaned, \u201cI\u2019d probably have to bring my own vultures.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was an afternoon of well told stories about death, dying, and bereavement. And very effective it was. Why not join Dying Matters or enter the competition to come up with a final Tweet?<\/p>\n

Richard Smith<\/strong> was the editor of the <\/em>BMJ until 2004 and is director of the United Health Group’s chronic disease initiative.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dying Matters is an organisation that aims to raise awareness of dying, death, and bereavement, and this is Dying Awareness Week. \u00a0The organisation exists because of the mass denial of […]<\/p>\n

More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[955],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-richard-smith"],"yoast_head":"\nRichard Smith: A jolly afternoon with Dying Matters - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Richard Smith: A jolly afternoon with Dying Matters - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dying Matters is an organisation that aims to raise awareness of dying, death, and bereavement, and this is Dying Awareness Week. \u00a0The organisation exists because of the mass denial of [...]More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-30T19:04:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2017\/02\/Richard-Smith.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\"},\"headline\":\"Richard Smith: A jolly afternoon with Dying Matters\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-30T19:04:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":988,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/Richard-Smith.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Richard Smith\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Richard Smith: A jolly afternoon with Dying Matters - The BMJ\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/Richard-Smith.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-30T19:04:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/Richard-Smith.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/Richard-Smith.jpg\",\"width\":540,\"height\":350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/30\\\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Richard Smith: A jolly afternoon with Dying Matters\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"description\":\"Helping doctors make better decisions.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"width\":852,\"height\":568,\"caption\":\"The BMJ\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/bmjdotcom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/bmj_latest\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\",\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"BMJ\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Richard Smith: A jolly afternoon with Dying Matters - The BMJ","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Richard Smith: A jolly afternoon with Dying Matters - The BMJ","og_description":"Dying Matters is an organisation that aims to raise awareness of dying, death, and bereavement, and this is Dying Awareness Week. \u00a0The organisation exists because of the mass denial of [...]More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/","og_site_name":"The BMJ","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","article_published_time":"2013-01-30T19:04:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":540,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2017\/02\/Richard-Smith.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"BMJ","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bmj_latest","twitter_site":"@bmj_latest","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"BMJ","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/"},"author":{"name":"BMJ","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe"},"headline":"Richard Smith: A jolly afternoon with Dying Matters","datePublished":"2013-01-30T19:04:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/"},"wordCount":988,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2017\/02\/Richard-Smith.jpg","articleSection":["Richard Smith"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/","name":"Richard Smith: A jolly afternoon with Dying Matters - The BMJ","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2017\/02\/Richard-Smith.jpg","datePublished":"2013-01-30T19:04:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2017\/02\/Richard-Smith.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2017\/02\/Richard-Smith.jpg","width":540,"height":350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/01\/30\/richard-smith-a-jolly-afternoon-with-dying-matters-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Richard Smith: A jolly afternoon with Dying Matters"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","name":"The BMJ","description":"Helping doctors make better decisions.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization","name":"The BMJ","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","width":852,"height":568,"caption":"The BMJ"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/bmj_latest"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe","name":"BMJ","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"BMJ"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}