Hospice of the Piedmont launches new initiative to get people talking about death and grief

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Normalize talking about death - that’s the idea behind Hospice of the Piedmont’s new initiative. It held a kickoff event at Ting Pavilion on Tuesday, Sept. 27, for its new project that aims to positively transform how people talk about illness, dying, and grief.

It hopes to connect with a wider range of people in Central Virginia.

“Death is a scary topic. People don’t want to talk about it. Our research tells us they don’t want to bring up the topic, yet everybody says it’s an important topic to talk about. So if we can talk about it, make it more visible, maybe those conversations will happen,” President of Hospice of the Piedmont Ron Cottrell said.

As part of the initiative it redesigned its logo, is launching a new ad campaign, and putting up billboards.

Do you have a story idea? Send us your news tip here.

Copyright 2022 WVIR. All rights reserved.