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To boldly go\u2026..<\/em><\/p>\nDeath is the final frontier that we will all face. But sudden death is dying out, and dying nowadays takes longer, with a last phase of life giving us months or years to consider our fate. How we respond in that situation will have immense consequences on how we will die. If we consider that talking about dying is in itself negative or harmful to hope, we lose a great opportunity to get actively involved in planning what we want, and to bringing our own personal beliefs and assets, and our friends\u2019 resources to the table. If we hope against hope for a cure, we may receive treatment of doubtful or even no benefit for us. [<\/span>1]<\/span>\u00a0We will also be less likely to receive comprehensive care that brings comfort and dignity, and miss the opportunity to influence and personalise our own dying. We will all die one day, so let\u2019s try to make sense of it. <\/span><\/p>\n The ability to make sense of stresses helps people cope and make life more manageable. This capability is applicable to the last phase of life, just as it is throughout life. The sociologist Antonovsky suggested that throughout life individuals can develop a set of resources which allow them to make sense of the stresses they encounter in daily life. [<\/span>2<\/span>] He called this ability a <\/span>“sense of coherence,” defining it as \u201c<\/span>the extent to which one has a feeling of confidence that the stimuli deriving from one’s internal and external environments are structured, predictable and explicable, that one has the internal resources to meet the demands posed by these stimuli and, that these demands are seen as challenges, worthy of investment and engagement.”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Life\u2019s last months, weeks, days, and hours are worthy of investment and engagement so that individuals and communities do not fear death, but can find their own sense of coherence and meaning in it. This will result in positive outcomes for individuals, health and social care, and communities. Health promoting palliative care encourages an assets approach to dying by looking to encourage local communities to be active in helping people live well right to the end of their lives. [<\/span>3]<\/span><\/p>\n This contrasts with the seventh and final age of man from <\/span>As You Like It<\/span><\/i>. Shakespeare depicts the final age as one defined by deficits: “<\/span>Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”\u00a0<\/span><\/i>In contrast, the apostle Paul advocates that suffering and dying can bring endurance, and that endurance can lead to character development and hope for individuals and communities. [<\/span>4] R<\/span>ealising assets such as personal faith, be it religious or secular, and various other individual and community resources to consider our destiny will allow us to shape and personalise our own dying. Failing to utilise these assets, we lose a great opportunity to maximise our quality and purpose of life unto the very moment of death.<\/span><\/p>\n To support people to boldly face the final frontier, a group of family doctors from the European Association of Palliative Care has produced a video entitled \u201cLiving and dying well<\/a>\u201d. It is a sequel to <\/span>a BMJ analysis<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>a brief video<\/span><\/a> for health professionals explaining the rationale for early palliative care for people with all progressive illnesses.<\/span>\u00a0This new four minute video seeks to explain to individuals and community groups what the last phase of life is likely to look like for people with different illnesses, and thus how to plan to make the best of it. Feel free to share this with patients, family, and friends. It is being produced in different languages to help us all navigate our passage to the final frontier as safely as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n