Death cafés as a strategy to foster compassionate communities: Contributions for death and grief literacy

Laranjeira, Carlos; Dixe, Maria Anjos; Querido, Ana; Stritch, Jennifer Moran

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.986031

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The phenomenon of mourning was first defined by Freud (1917) in his article titled "Mourning and Melancholia" as "the reaction to the loss of a loved one, object or value". The mourning that accompanies losses is often associated with death (Laranjeira et al 2022). Grief literacy is the knowledge, skills, and values that encourage the individual to behave compassionately towards herself/himself and others.…”

Section: Dimensions Of Grief Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main goal of grief literacy is to understand grief, recognize loss, and provide skills to go through grief normally and effectively (Laranjeira et al 2022). Considering that death and dying are common concerns in societies (Koksvik and Richard 2023), "Death Cafes", inspired by the study of Crettaz (2010), come to the fore as friendly local environments, where stories or experiences about death, loss, and grief are shared and discussed.…”

Section: Dimensions Of Grief Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Death and Grief Literacy in the Family

Başyiğit,

Şimşek Arslan

2024

Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar

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Death, which begins with the birth of a living, is the biological end of life in an unknown time. As the biological existence of the deceased comes to an end, the grief, which includes different feelings and thoughts, emerges for the other relatives who continue to live. The aim of this review is to describe death and grief literacy and explain its importance in the family. Death and grief literacy aims to provide educational and empowering information on subjects such as making sense of their lives that begin with birth and end with death, the phenomenon of death and loss through death, the phenomenon of grief and and continuing life with grief. There are four dimensions of death literacy in the literature. These dimensions are defined as practical knowledge (talking support, doing hands on care), experiential knowledge, factual knowledge and community knowledge (others can help me provide end of life care, support groups in my community). There are three dimensions in grief literacy. These are knowledge, skills and values dimensions. Many factors such as the relationship with the deceased, how the death occurred, the mood of the grieving individual, and culture affect the dimensions of death and grief literacy. Death and grief are multidimensional issues. Therefore, many disciplines are responsible for the development of literacy in these areas. The family is the basic social unit in which people feel safe, interact, experience and share. The death of a family member can be a devastating for other survivors. It is important to understand the death and grief correctly and to develop the ability to experience it, in order to provide a correct and effective attitude towards life. In this context, it is thought that the development of death and grief literacy in the family will clarify many issues such as the phenomenon of death, the effect of the death of a loved one on the individual and the family, grief reactions, how to talk about death with children and adolescents, the effective role of family communication, the importance of social support, and the components of the grief. It is very important for family members to have death and grief literacy, to make sense of the death and grief of individuals who have experienced the death of a loved one, to recognize their grief reactions, to return to their former functionality and to become stronger.

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Section: Dimensions Of Grief Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dimensions Of Grief Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Death and Grief Literacy in the Family

Başyiğit,

Şimşek Arslan

2024

Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar

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“…Several studies suggest that Death Cafés are a useful tool for healthcare students and professionals, addressing stress, trauma, or burnout among people who confront mortality every day (Adler et al 2015;Bateman et al 2020;Chang 2021;Hammer et al 2019;Nelson et al 2018). Other studies look to Death Cafés as a model for training healthcare professionals in having more compassionate conversations about death and dying with patients (Laranjeira et al 2022;Ito et al 2023). Healthcare workers are acutely impacted by death and dying given the nature of their work, and this may explain why many Death Café attendees have backgrounds in healthcare.…”

Section: Death Cafésmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonreligious Afterlife: Emerging Understandings of Death and Dying

Miller,

Beaman

2024

Religions

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Death Cafés are informal events that bring people together for conversations about death and related issues. These events connect strangers from across a range of backgrounds, including healthcare workers, hospice volunteers, and funeral directors, among others. Based on an analysis of focus groups and interviews with Death Café attendees, this paper explores how participants construct and express conceptions of the process of dying and what happens after we die. Ideas about the afterlife have historically been shaped by a religious outlooks and identities. However, nonreligious lifestances have shifted how people understand death and dying. We suggest that notions of continuity of life are not the purview of religious people. Rather, participants in Death Cafés draw simultaneously on many ideas, and reveal ways of conceptualizing life after death—in various forms—without the guidance of religion. Based on conversations with attendees about their outlooks on death (and what may happen after death), our data reveals four main typologies of afterlife imaginaries, which we label cessation, unknown, energy, and transition. Among the diverse perspectives shared, we argue for the emergence of an immanent afterlife outlook.

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“…9,10 The DD role has its roots in the fundamental belief that the medicalisation of death has removed much in the way of death awareness and death literacy, including the ability to talk openly about death. 11 In more practical terms, the movement reflects what some have identified as a shift in health services back into the community. 12 Parallels to the DD role can be found within Australian Indigenous communities, where support in dying (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences of engaging a death doula: qualitative interviews with bereaved family members

Rawlings,

Van Dinther,

Miller-Lewis

et al. 2023

Palliat�Care

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Background: There has been an emerging trend of adopting a death doula, a non-medical advocate and guide for people at the end of life and their families. While there has been growing empirical research regarding the work of death doulas, no studies have been undertaken with the families who have engaged them. Objectives: To understand the experiences of families who used a death doula in terms of what they did for the patient and family; to understand the benefits and drawbacks of using a death doula; and to use family insight to determine cultural shifts towards death and dying, and what the death doula phenomenon tells us around our attitudes towards death and dying. Methods: We recruited and interviewed 10 bereaved family members to learn about their experiences using a death doula. This qualitative research took an interpretive phenomenological approach, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: The most valuable attribute the families gained from death doulas was an increase in death literacy resulting in personal empowerment. Empowerment enabled positive end-of-life experiences for the family and personalised deaths for the patient. A novel finding was that the connections and knowledge shared between the death doula and family had a resonant effect, resulting in families being more comfortable with death and keen to share their knowledge with others. Therefore, family engagement of a death doula led to an increase in community awareness around death and dying. Conclusion: Family members’ experience with a death doula was overwhelmingly positive, empowering them practically and emotionally to deliver the best end-of-life care. Empathy and sharing of knowledge by death doulas were valued by families and resulted in an increase in death literacy which provided families with opportunities to ‘pay it forward’. Furthermore, the relationships formed between doulas and families have the potential for a lasting, resonant effect.

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Death cafés as a strategy to foster compassionate communities: Contributions for death and grief literacy

Cited by 10 publications

References 38 publications

Death and Grief Literacy in the Family

Death and Grief Literacy in the Family

Nonreligious Afterlife: Emerging Understandings of Death and Dying

Experiences of engaging a death doula: qualitative interviews with bereaved family members

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