Democratising death using technology during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: MyWishes is a free to use, end of life planning software for people who live in the United Kingdom. It uses 'social media design' principles and takes a non-medicalised approach to care planning. The innovation was developed following years of research and develop and piloted with a number of hospices before before it was launched. Aims: To help people make plans for themselves and their loved ones. When the COVID-19 pandemic started we decided to make everything on MyWishes free to use and in doing so, democratise end of life planning. The platform is suitable and accessible to both hard to reach demographics and society at large. Methods (design, data collection, analysis): We wanted to reinvent care planning and make it relevant for today's digitally savvy generation. It was important that despite providing a complex and data entry and heavy platform the service was intuitive and simple to use. This was achieved by providing a consistent design interface, adopting a complimentary colour scheme and providing video tutorials in each section. Obtaining feedback from inpatients at Michael Sobell Hospice and St Francis Hospice have helped improve our understanding of how MyWishes is used within clinical settings. Ongoing work with patient and user groups remains vital to our ongoing development. Results: MyWishes has been featured in a number of public facing publications. These range from the Times and the Metro newspapers to PC Pro and BJ Miller's most recent publication 'A beginner's guide to the end'. Our community is growing and we continue to advocate for the normalisation of care planning through the use of technological innovation. Conclusion / Discussion: Technology will continue to play an important part in care planning. It is important to discuss whether 'digital first' interventions are suitable for some populations and how technology can be used without eroding quality of care and compassion.