Jo Brand has discussed end-of-life planning after her mother’s death, saying people should make their wishes known early.
The comedian’s mum died aged 86 in 2021 after contracting COVID alongside other health complications.
Jo also lost her dad to dementia. Meanwhile, her brothers Matt and Bill also died after both were given cancer diagnoses.
Jo Brand on end-of-life planning
The 69-year-old spoke about assisted dying in an interview with The Guardian.
Her new book, Decline and Falling Over, also explores grief and dying.
She warned against postponing decisions until people are no longer able to put their plans in place.
“Now’s the time, if you want things, to get them in place. I think a lot of people say, ‘I really want to do that, but I’ll forget it for now.’ And then they get to a stage where they can’t,” she said.
During the interview, Jo was asked whether her comments about planning ahead referred to a bucket list.
She explained that she meant end-of-life choices, expressing her belief that assisted dying would become legal: “I mean the ability to perhaps end your own… I know it’s not legal yet, but I think it will be, sooner rather than later.”
Jo has previously supported Dignity in Dying, which campaigns for legal reform around end-of-life choices.
Jo Brand’s concerns about future care
Jo also discussed her worries about living in a care home.
She linked those fears to a teenage job at a residential home for adults with learning disabilities. She recalled troubling behaviour by male staff during her time there.
Jo said the home sacked her after she complained, and nobody investigated her complaints.
That experience has left her questioning whether things would be different now. She also expressed doubt that her family would want to take on her care.
She has two grown-up daughters, Maisie and Eliza, with her husband, Bernie Bourke.
Jo’s nursing career helped her handle threats
Before becoming a full-time stand-up comedian, the Getting On star spent more than a decade working as a psychiatric nurse.
She met her husband, who was also a nurse, through that work.
In 2012, Jo discussed how her experience in a psychiatric emergency clinic helped her handle challenging fans.
“I had much worse then, in terms of threats of violence,” she told The Independent.
Jo said that experience had taught her how to handle herself when faced with threatening behaviour.