What matters to you?
Let’s get talking…about what matters to me
My name is Eve and I am a Junior Doctor working for the BANES, Swindon & Wiltshire NHS Integrated Care Board (BSWICB).
I am interested in advance care planning and the compassionate conversations we can have with people.
Through this I have been lucky enough to work both on national and local What Matters Most groups and have been part of some amazing work and conversations. A few of which I would like to share with you.
What is ‘What Matters To You’/ WMTY?
What Matters Conversations are about asking people what is most important to them. It is largely thought about in terms of advance care planning; when discussing what people might want or think is important at the end of their lives. But really it’s much more than that, and it is aiming to be part of a social movement for change, where people of all ages, in many settings, have the space to communicate what is important to them.
Why WMTY conversations should be adopted
It seems to me that developing the language to have these important end of life planning conversations, or facilitating the space to have them, throughout the life course will enrich the conversations we have.
There is loads of great stuff out there to explain more about what WMTY all means, both to patients and to staff. Is it really a blog if it doesn’t start by linking to a TED talk? So, the first video I would recommend is a TED talk which presents What Matters to You as a vital sign and gives some great examples of the impact that these conversations can have.
What matters to You Day - 6th June, 2023
What Matters to You Day is on the 6th June 2023. I cannot think of a better day for organisations and professionals to sign up to the National What Matters to You Charter. This Charter helps guide professionals and healthcare providers in ensuring a consistent compassionate practice. At a local BSW level we have proudly signed up to the Charter, which is available with some other resources here.
The main principles are:
What Matters Most Conference - 2022
The national What Matters working group hosted an online, day conference in 2022 to talk all things What Matters. It was a really interesting and useful day. We talked about everything from building a movement, to patient and professional perspectives and much more. Luckily the videos of the conference are available on the Marie Curie YouTube page to watch back, but are also available below.
One of the stand out talks for me was from Chris Lubbe (video below - 32:11). He told us about his activism work with Nelson Mandela and a Zulu greeting ‘Sawubona’ which means ‘I see you’. I think this encapsulates the compassionate communities and what matters most approach to health and advanced care planning. If we start these conversations with compassion and this idea of talking to truly see people, hopefully we can really make a difference in people’s life and death; shaping a package of care that is bespoke for them.
If you think you’re too small or insignificant to make a difference, you haven’t spent a night with a mosquito.”
Nelson Mandela
Chris Lubbe presentation available at 31:44.
What matters to professionals?
Another way of thinking about What Matters from an organisational perspective, is to consider what matters to the people that work there. Whether that be about understanding what is important to staff members caring for people at the end of their life, or about what matters to them as people when they are at work more generally.
If you are a health professional and feeling inspired by this concept, then the What Matters To You Awareness Day on the 9th June, 2023 is a great day to start planning a project for your work community.
The Conversation Project has some insights from healthcare professionals in BSW and is a helpful resource to listen to.
What matters to you in BSW
“We are encouraging everyone to ask ‘what matters to you?
We support many patients who have failing health, a life limiting illness, or poor prognosis.
Supporting patients nearing the end of life and supporting their families is one of the most important things that we do, and asking ‘what matters to you’ enables us to truly consider how we provide person and family centred care.
Let’s all consider how we can support important conversations asking ‘what matters to you?’ Let’s then listen to what matters to the person and try to support what matters to them.”
Helen Meehan, BSW End of Life Care Alliance What Matters to You? Working Group Chair.
