How Funerals Accomplish Family: Findings From a Mass-Observation Study

Rest in Peace or in Pieces: Post-Mortem Care Options in U.S. Advance Directives

Advance Directives (ADs) have traditionally focused on documenting patients' end-of-life (EOL) care preferences. Recently, discussions surrounding post-mortem care as an additional aspect of EOL care planning have gained attention. This study examined ADs across all 50 states and the District of Columbia (referred to as "entities"), assessing their inclusion of two post-mortem categories: funeral planning and anatomical gifts. Results revealed that 29% of entities offered options from both categories, 43% provided options from only one of the categories, and 27% lacked options from either category. Unexpectedly, only one entity (2%) provided all post-mortem options from both categories. These findings suggest a lack of consistency in the availability of post-mortem options across ADs. By emphasizing the importance of comprehensive EOL care planning, this study provides valuable insights into the necessity for AD standardization, particularly regarding post-mortem preferences for patients who choose to express them.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Funerals: Experiences of Participants in the 2020 Dying2Learn Massive Open Online Course

A Massive-Open-Online-Course (MOOC) on death and dying (Dying2Learn) was offered in 2020, designed to build conversations about death as a natural part of life. In week 1, the content focused on how today's society engages with death through the language we use, humour, public mourning and funerals. This study investigated 2020 MOOC participants' responses to an online activity reflecting on funerals and memorials during the time of COVID-19. From this activity, n = 204 responses were analysed qualitatively. Themes included the positives and negatives of virtual funeral attendance (e.g. opportunity to have a way to participate when travel barriers existed, versus a sense of impersonal voyeurism); and the challenges related to the inability to physically comfort the bereaved due to physical distancing requirements. Comments made as part of this MOOC activity provide a unique insight into the community's experience of funeral changes necessitated by COVID-19, with important implications for the grieving process.

Last Honors and Life Experiences of Bereaved Families in the Context of COVID-19 in Kashmir: A Qualitative Inquiry About Exclusion, Family Trauma, and Other Issues

This study examined the changing character of the last honours of those who died of COVID-19 in Kashmir and the life experiences of the families of the deceased. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect information from 21 participants. Using qualitative data analysis approaches, five key themes were identified vis-à-vis the impact of COVID-19 on burial rituals and customs; effects on bereaved families, shades of grief, bereavement care, community response, and coping with loss. Based on examining the pandemic-induced changes related to customs and rituals around death, the study found that the bereaved family members were in danger of marginalization, economic burdens, psychological traumas, and overall reduced quality of life. This study would be a credible addition to the existing literature on death practices as there is a shortage of research on funeral rituals during the post-pandemic period in Kashmir.

Feeding the family at the end-of-life: An ethnographic study on the role of food and eating practices for families facing death in Portugal

Little has been said about the disruptive impact that the inability to eat and to participate in mealtimes has for patients with a life-threatening illness and their families. The aim of the current study is to overcome this gap and shed light on how food and eating practices are experienced by families at the end-of-life. An ethnographic research was developed in two Portuguese palliative care units: participant observation was conducted during 10 months and in-depth interviews were carried out with 10 patients with a life-threatening illness, 20 family members and 20 palliative care professionals. Food is not only a matter of nutrition in a biological sense, but also an act of giving care to patients with a life-threatening illness. The findings suggest that food and eating practices affect the processes of relationality and of doing family at the end-of-life in Portugal. Attention is particularly paid to gender differences. The study supports recent sociological research which understands the dying process as a relational experience and intends to develop sociological knowledge on the materialities of care.