Cross Cultural Views Of Death And Dying Flashcards
Treatment of the elderly
◦ Level of social integration oft he elderly
‣ Related to the collectivist versus individualistic societies
◦ Demographic trends
‣ See the lecture on the shift of the age pyramid
◦ Other cultural factors
‣ Effects on America’s “Youth Culture”
‣ Effects on China’s “One Child” policy - the abandoned seniors living in storage lockers
A note on nursing homes and elder care facilities
• availability and desirability of social and physical activities
• Accessibility for family members - to make sure to visit when you are not expected
• Policies to prevent bullying and “mean girl behavior” among residents
◦ Trying to prevent the fighting about who can be where and sit where or talk to who
• The smell test
◦ A lot of nursing homes will smell and not be pleasant but that is not always because of mistreatment
Ways of dying in America - institutionalization
• institutionalization of death -> in the U.S., around 80% of people die in hospitals or other institutions
◦ Desire to avoid seeing or being with people at the end of their lives
◦ Medical fears of being sued
◦ Financial incentives to keep the insured alive as long as possible
Ways of dying in America - hospice
Increased acceptance of hospice programs
◦ Goal of hospice is to provide palliative care but not extend the lifespan
◦ Home or home life environment rather than a sterile hospital environment
◦ AIDSs epidemic helped to change people’s view of hospice ca
◦ Quality and training of hospice workers can vary widely
Euthanasia today
Changing view of Euthanasia – attitudes have changed drastically over the last 50 years.
◦ Passive Euthanasia – allowing someone to die by not providing intervention
◦ Active Euthanasia – doing something that leads to death; “mercy killing”
◦ Assisted Suicide – individual decides when and where to die and self-administers the lethal medication
It is important to legally establish your wishes related to end of life decisions
◦ Do not resuscitate orders (DNR)
◦ Advanced care directives (living wills)
The two wishes to legally establish related to end of life
It is important to legally establish your wishes related to end of life decisions
◦ Do not resuscitate orders (DNR)
◦ Advanced care directives (living wills)
the process of dying - definitions of death
• agonal phase - struggle, death rattle
• Clinical death - heartbeat, circulation, breathing, and brain function cease
• Mortality - permanent death
• Defining brain death - all electrical activity in the brain ceased for a certain amount of time
◦ Higher portion of the brain (cognition and emotion) often die earlier than lower brain (heartbeat and respirations)
Kubler Ross in grief on dying
◦ They are not supported by research
‣ people do not experience these emotions as stages
‣ There are other emotions that some experience and not everyone experiences those identified by Kubler-Ross
‣ No one’s grief process should be prescribed, and no one should be forced to go through someone else’s process
The death business
◦ Many businesses use guilt and social shaming to widely profit off death
◦ funeral parlors provide a lot of emotional support for grieving but also are extremely expensive -> the average cost in the United States is over 9,000 dollars. Some of the major facts include:
‣ Casket, flowers, funeral service, burial plot, gravestone
Providing for mourning in death
◦ Mumbai - death crowds
◦ New Orleans - second lines
◦ Moriologists - professionals mourners in parts of the Middle East and China
◦ Sitting Shiva - Judaism practice of 7 days of mourning for the first-degree relatives
Ways of commemorating the dead
◦ Hungry Ghost Festival – Chinese month in which the boundary between life and death is most blurred. Chinese Taoists and Buddhists burn paper signifying the things the living deceased loved ones. They also release paper lanterns to help guide the spirits home.
◦ Radonitsa – Russian Orthodox Church’s second-Tuesday-of-Easter memorial for the departed involves leaving Easter eggs on the tombstones of the deceased before dining beside them, as well as sometimes giving presents to one’s in-laws.
Celebrations in death
◦ Funeral Strippers in some parts of Taiwan and China – believed to come from 2 trends
‣ Desire to draw a big crowd to please deceased
‣ Gangster groups popularized this practice in the 1970s and 1980s
◦ Of course, it’s also good business
◦ China is now trying to discourage this practice
Some peoples wise word on death
• Yoda – “Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn then do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is.”
• Dumbledore – “After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”
• Gandalf – “End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.”
Resilience
◦ Resilience is about surviving, and even striving, in the face of adversity.
◦ Generally, we do not talk about privileged people being resilient, but when it comes to older adults, this term can be used.
◦ Sometimes surviving adversity does make us stronger – e.g., some of the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
‣ Some forms of adversity dramatically and negatively affect our resilience
• Chronic stressors like poverty, racism, health problems
• Early childhood trauma, deprivation, and healthy problems (e.g., Flint Michigan)
‣ Overall, we can predict resilience, when one’s coping and support systems are more powerful than their stressors.
The resilience model resources
◦ Social system that is both wide and deep (several people who can be relied upon)
◦ Instrumental support including access to local and federal agencies for support
◦ High levels of cognition and literacy (more ability to adjust and problem solve to get access to aid)
