Bolton Clarke, 2019

One Good Death

The One Good Death Tactile Tools™ Workshop. Photographer Adam R. Thomas.

The One Good Death Tactile Tools™ workshop brought together 47 thought leaders in ageing, education and health sectors to define and workshop how design can help to achieve a ‘good death’ for all people in the community as they reach end-of-life. The concept of a ‘good death’ was defined as one that recognises the whole-of-life contribution of people living in aged care, or in the community, as they near death. A good death is also self defined by the person dying and their family and includes concepts such as dying with dignity, spirituality and palliative care.

In the workshop, teams focused on improving the experience of a specific persona as they neared end-of-life. Throughout the experience experts from diverse backgrounds - health practitioners through to designers, funeral directors and government officials - participated in a collaboratively prototyped and re-prototyped pathways toward a ‘good death’ for their persona. This shared experience built trust, intimacy and strong bonds between participants. The Tactile Tools™ methodology provided a conduit for collaboration, enabling participants to externalise and share feelings and ideas in a participatory and performative way.