Words like “hospice” and “palliative care” are sometimes used interchangeably, but they don’t refer to the same things. Hospice is a type of care that focuses on providing physical, spiritual and emotional comfort at end of life. Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach that focuses on providing medical care to people navigating serious illness, no … Read more
The Nour Foundation, which operates on special consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council as a public charitable and nongovernmental organization, has produced the audio feature Death: A Five-Part Series, featuring reportage and in depth discussion with experts. To get started, we recommend two brief episodes (9 and 12 minutes, respectively) called … Read more
While NPR’s Scott Simon sat with his 84-year-old mother who was dying in the intensive care unit of a Chicago hospital, he sent out a tweet. The considerable following that emerged suggested that others were keen to hear more. What resulted was a series of Twitter messages written by Simon about his mother and his … Read more
“Imagine: facing death with far fewer fears; a funeral ceremony being held in a home or a private, intimate setting, allowing for a longer and more personal good-bye; ecologically conscious final disposition (a cremation or green burial).” http://www.finalpassages.org/?q=home
“Being OK with dying is a weird place to be. People think that I’ve given in,” says one man at the centre of the documentary Death Makes Life Possible. Exploring the idea that “consciousness is more than just our physical being,” this film features those preparing for death, those who have had near-death experiences, and … Read more
“One of the best things someone said to me soon after my partner died,” says therapist and writer Megan Devine, “was: With something this big, ‘just happened’ can mean 80 years ago as much as it means this morning.” Devine offers an online “Writing Your Grief” course that’s designed for anyone who is navigating loss (not just those … Read more
Roz Chast’s 2014 book, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? starts with this statement: “It was against my parents’ principles to talk about death.” With her poignant and funny style, Chast pays tribute to her parents’ lives, chronicles her own observations of their declining health and her experience of their deaths. http://rozchast.com/books.shtml
Prominent critic, poet and memoirist Sandra M. Gilbert explores death and dying after the untimely loss of her husband. She weaves cultural history, her personal experience, literature and current events to examine our relationship with death in the 21st century. http://www.sandramgilbert.com/works.htm
After the loss of her brother in her youth and 20 years working in a hospice, Eve Joseph writes lyrical essays on death, dying and living. http://evejoseph.com/
“Like many Westerners at the turn of the 21st century, my family and I had not had much to do with death,” says author Katherine Ashenburg. “In their 20s, my daughters had four living grandparents. Hannah had been to only two funerals in her life. This was our first experience with sudden death at a … Read more
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