"It's about seeing death and dying not just as a medical issue, but a social issue too."
He said dying, like birth, was a human event everyone has to go through. Therefore, care of the dying is everyone's business.
The full-day symposium will feature a range of keynote presentations and discussions from industry leaders including Bay of Plenty District Health Board chief executive Pete Chandler and Starship Children Hospital paediatric palliative care specialist Dr. Emily Chang.
Other speakers include those from Te Ārai Palliative care and End of Life Research Group, Hospice New Zealand, University of Auckland and the medical lead for paediatrics in the Bay of Plenty Dr Justin Wilde.
Topics for the day range from caring for kaumātua at end of life and learning from the past to shape the future, to paediatric palliative care and how the end of life care fits into a compassionate community.
"It's important to us that our symposium supports an engaged audience, and people walk away with a better understanding of how palliative care fits into the community and the role they play," Thurlow said.
"We want to create a space where questions are not only encouraged, but answered."
The afternoon panel session will see speakers joined by hospice field experts to discuss topics and questions presented by the audience.
The event sold out in 2018 and 2019. It is open to the community.
Tickets are available on the Waipuna Hospice website.
Palliative Care in our Compassionate Community Symposium
The event will be held at Waipuna Hospice on Te Puna Station Rd, on May 17 from 8am to 3pm.
