Learn some ideas for how you might teach others in your community about death and dying and why you should.
In today’s solo episode I’ll share with you my thoughts on why death education is so essential in our society today. No matter what type of work you do in the end-of-life field (estate attorney, hospice staff, death doula, home funeral guide, green burial practitioner, bereavement counselor) you need to help educate your community about death, dying and grief if you want people to utilize your services. Right now we ALL need to become death educators in our own special way and I’ll talk about why that’s true and how you might get involved.
Watch on YouTube to see the slides
This episode includes:
- We are living longer and developing complex diseases (like Alzheimer’s) with increasing incidence.
- Medical tech continues to advance rapidly allowing us to prolong life (even when patient’s don’t want that).
- Our society is divided over ethical and moral dilemmas around end-of-life issues like medical aid in dying and removal of life support.
- Being unprepared for death has a high financial cost (too much medical care and wasteful after-death care)
- There is also and emotional and spiritual cost to ignoring death.
- Where we need to be teaching about death, dying and grief:
- The home – showing parents how to talk to their children about death
- Schools – teaching high school and college students about death through classes, book clubs, discussion groups
- Churches – clergy members need to know about EOL issues in order to better serve their congregations
- Workplaces – employers and staff need to know how to deal with death and grief at work
- Medical facilities – of course all medical personnel need much more education about death, grief, and how to deal with EOL decisions
- Assisted living and nursing homes – staff also need to know how to handle grief, help residents with ACP, create sacred space for dying residents
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Death and Dying Class Instructor Training
- Step-by-Step Roadmap for End-of-Life Planning
- Episode 127: The Consequences of Ignoring Death
- Map of Memory Lane by Francesca Arnoldy
- Leave me a message by email: kwyattmd@comcast.net, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
- Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop and Indiebound: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying and The Journey from Ego to Soul
- Subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher Radio
- Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
- Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu and receive free gifts like the “Mind if we talk about death?” mini-poster or Love Your Life sticker or coffee mug. PLUS get our regular bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, occasional movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!
If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my newest patron Francesca Arnoldy, and to those who have bought me a coffee and made a donation through Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference.