In May 2021, after nearly three years of work, Dr Naomi Richards and I finally saw our article Death Café, Bauman and Striving for Human Connection in “Liquid Times”published in the journal Mortality. In the article, we offer a new, critical, and perhaps provocative perspective on the role that Death Café gatherings play and the purpose they… Continue reading
A recurring question I’ve been asked throughout this past year of teaching and research in the End of Life Studies field has been how far the global pandemic has brought about a more open acknowledgement of human mortality. This is an interesting take on what is a standard question for scholars of death and dying:… Continue reading
MSc students Kelly Oberle and Jennifer Rigal discuss the Death over Dinner event they organised online in March 2021. We are two students on the MSc in End of Life Studies Programme at the University of Glasgow, who have been friends for years. In our first course, The Ageing and Dying Continuum, we have been introduced… Continue reading
Several years ago, I started hearing about a new kind of community-based care role. Some called themselves ‘end-of-life doula’; others identified themselves as a ‘death doula’ or a ‘death midwife’. These terms describe people (primarily women) who provide a wide range of social, emotional, practical, and spiritual supports for people nearing the end of life,… Continue reading
The authors of this blog have both been involved in palliative care for over a decade, albeit for different reasons. Claire Morris is a global palliative care advocate within a palliative care international non-governmental organisation and Lucy Watts has been accessing palliative care services since she was 17 years old as a result of a rare,… Continue reading
There has been a seismic shift in the way that funeral ceremonies are conducted in the wake of Covid-19. The effects of this on the bereaved are yet to be meaningfully understood. This conversation between a funeral celebrant and a mourner (at separate events) acknowledges the disruption caused. The impact of these changes, particularly the… Continue reading
‘Total Pain’ as the Pain of a Lifetime This post looks at Cicely Saunders’ influential term ‘total pain’ in terms of endings and limits. ‘Total pain’ articulates how pain for someone whose life is ending is a whole overwhelming experience which combines physical, psychological, social and spiritual elements. My own PhD project looks at how… Continue reading
I’m ridiculously pleased to announce that I have been appointed Program Convenor of the new End of Life Studies Degree Program starting in January 2021 (MSc/PgDip/PgCert). As many of you will be aware, for the last three years I have had the distinct privilege of being a research fellow with the End of Life Studies… Continue reading
