Inspired by the book ‘Dying to Know,’ Dying to Know Day (August 8) is an annual day of action dedicated to bringing to life conversations and community actions around death, dying and bereavement. In Australia, 75% have not had end of life discussions, less than 10% have an advance care plan and 45% die without a will. The Dying To Know Day initiative encourages grassroots action to change these statistics by encouraging people to develop their death literacy, make their end of life plans, share these wishes with their families and get informed about end of life and death care options such as dying at home, home and community led funerals and natural burial.

2013 The GroundSwell Project successfully piloted and evaluated the concept and in 2014 the initiative grew significantly in size to 65 community events and over 120 personal actions across Australia.

This presentation will provide an overview of this public health initiative and its outcomes over the past 2 years. Evaluation data indicates wide-spread support across a number of sectors of the community for example palliative care, funeral directors, artists and service clubs.