For 51 weeks a year, it is as if organisations literally do not exist. Then, for seven glorious days, they are in the newspapers and on the telly, and their representatives in hi-vis vests are out on the street to collect donations, and we learn a whole lot more about the cause.
Health, of course, is the most common topic for an awareness week. Breast cancer, prostate cancer, bowel cancer, cervical cancer, mental health — all, and others, get their week to shine.
There are weeks — some even get months, but some only get days — for road safety, volunteers, breastfeeding, conservation, race relations and anti-bullying.
All do great work raising awareness of serious issues and how to access help.
There is an element of the unfair or the unexplained about all this — why do some weeks get more attention than others, and why do some wonderful causes need a special week to ask for donations when they should be fully funded?
But, while accepting it is not helpful to highlight just one cause, we will today go ahead and do that anyway.
It is Hospice Awareness Week, if you did not know.
From its New Zealand beginnings with the Mary Potter Hospice in Wellington in 1979, the hospice movement has grown to be an absolutely vital service in our community.
Hospice, the line goes, is not a building but a "philosophy of care".
It deals with people and all of their physical, emotional, culture and spiritual needs at the palliative stage, when they are dying and deserve to spend their final months, weeks and days with the best possible care.
Many of our readers will have experienced the care and support offered by hospice to whanau members who have been at that stage.
These are special people, and it is a special service. They, and it, need all the help we can give.
Hospice, like so many worthy organisations, faces a constant battle to make ends meet. Collectively, hospices in New Zealand must raise some $77million each year to keep operating.
Leaders in palliative care sounded the alarm last year over the struggle to attract good staff — hospice and aged-care nurses were being paid about 20% less than counterparts at DHBs — and in dealing with rising demand, as New Zealand’s population was ageing and the death rate set to climb.
This is where awareness weeks come in. So, have a think this week about the value hospice provides to our society, and how you can help.
Think, too, about the essence of palliative care, and the difficult conversations we all need to have about how to care for our loved ones when they are dying.
AND ANOTHER THING
It could be "game on" in Dunedin if the Otago Polytechnic’s bold plan turns the city into the video game development capital of New Zealand.
The tertiary institution wants to set up the Dunedin School of Games, an off-campus facility to complement the Centre of Digital Excellence.
This is an exciting proposal. The gaming industry is booming, and this city is ideally placed to be at the forefront of its development in New Zealand.
We hope the idea will receive suitable support from the Dunedin City Council and the wider community.
