Resources: Death and Dying
Everyone’s favorite topic: Death! Not quite, but we’ve GOT to get much more comfortable talking about death, planning for it, and being up-close-and-personal with it. We are ALL heading in that direction, sooner or later.
I’ve found that, planning for my own death has allowed me to “set it and forget it”, and now I go forward and LIVE MY LIFE TO THE FULLEST. You can do the same.
If you make the plans, fill out the paperwork, have the hard conversations, designate those you trust to make decisions with and for you… then it’s done, and you’ll know you’re not leaving a big mess for those you’ll leave behind! Such a gift you give your family and friends! And a greater likelihood that YOUR wishes will be honored.
Death Over Dinner
An uplifting interactive adventure that transforms this seemingly difficult conversation into one of deep engagement, insight and empowerment.
Death Café
At a Death Cafe people, often strangers, gather to eat cake, drink tea and discuss death.
Our objective is ‘to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives’.
A Death Cafe is a group directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counselling session.
Death. Talk to Us!
A YouTube series on all things death and dying. Sounds morbid, but the idea is to have an honest conversation about something we too often shy away from. Is there an interesting story we need to hear? Are you going through a personal experience you want to share?
Final Exit Network
We Support The Human Right To A Death With Dignity
We hold that mentally competent adults who suffer from a terminal illness, intractable physical pain, chronic or progressive physical disabilities, or who face loss of autonomy and selfhood through dementia, have a basic human right to choose to end their lives when they judge their quality of life to be unacceptable.
Final Exit Network – Good Death Society Blog
Here’s a varied, pondering, sometimes intense collection of blog posts relating to death and dying, presented by the Final Exit Network.
“Mr. Smith Has No Mealtimes”: Minimal Comfort Feeding for Patients with Advanced Dementia
“We introduce Minimal Comfort Feeding (MCF). Rather than offering food and liquids proactively as with Comfort Feeding Only, caregivers provide nutrition and hydration only in response to signs of hunger and thirst…” Article in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management by Dr. Hope Wechkin and colleagues. Read the full article below:
https://www.jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(24)01116-3/fulltext
How to Talk to Your Kids about Death and Grief
It is always difficult to talk about death. We feel even more uncomfortable and nervous talking with children about death since we want to protect their innocence and shield them from sadness. Despite feeling apprehensive when talking to children about this subject, we need to support children through difficult times in order to facilitate healing and growth.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-death_b_2324546
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