In the Life Café Kit you will find resources and activities that promote and support conversations about what people find meaningful in life and in care. The Life Café was developed by design researchers at Sheffield Hallam University’s Lab4Living as part of a larger research project funded by the Marie Curie ‘Design to Care Programme’.
In 2017, Marie Curie commissioned an ambitious programme of research to inform the development of new models of palliative and end of life care. Lab4Living focused on understanding the experiences of community living individuals. A key finding of the research was that people generally did not have the opportunity to talk about what was important to them and how they gave and received care. What also became apparent was that the conversations about end of life were really more about living: about values, meanings, motivations and elements that the individuals saw as a priority.
Hundreds of people have participated in Life Café’s to date, using this resource to engage in interesting and significant conversations. All of the resources you find within the Life Café Kit have been created in partnership with individuals living in the community and each element is underpinned by a clear rationale. The Life Café forms a stand-alone activity, but it can be used in many different environments (such as hospitals, care homes, hospices, schools and community groups) and link to other national initiatives (such as Design to Care and Compassionate Communities). Our hope is that in sharing the Life Café that others will have the opportunity to engage in similar life-transforming conversations.
This resource was developed by Claire Craig, Paul Chamberlain and Helen Fisher from Lab4Living. Special thanks to Marie Curie, Sheffcare, Design Futures Packaging and all of our Life Café facilitators and participants that have enabled this resource to be what it is today.
