the majority of the people who die are over sixty-five years old. They have lived what society considers full or whole lives. Often the funeral service is called a “celebration of life.” The mentality of the grievers is different when the life lost is an elderly person rather than a child or a young adult in the prime of life. A child has not had a chance to live life to its fullest. People may say things like “He was cut down in his prime,” or “A parent is not supposed to bury the child; it should be the other way around.” Types of aftercare Dan Isgard in his article, “Aftercare, Outreach, and Pre-need the Next Frontier,” states (2015) “Aftercare and outreach is the care, help, support or supervision given to people after the funeral service is concluded to help families be prepared to continue without the deceased in their life. They can be programs, meetings, or educational events.” Funeral home can reach out in many ways via aftercare. The book Understanding Dying, Death, and Bereavement (2011) states: “The funeral industry has always known that 80 percent of its business is with families they served in the past. However, aftercare is one method to increase the likelihood of getting repeat business. The newest trend in funeral service is to provide extensive aftercare services and products for widows and widowers. Among these services and products are grief therapy, bereavement support groups, video tributes, and even greeting cards sent to survivors to mark the anniversary of death or the deceased’s birthday.” Funeral One, a company that provides aftercare services, listed in their blog (Mar. 22, 2012) five ways to reach out to the families after the completion of the funeral service. 1. Send frequent email affirmations – This simple idea can uplift the families of the deceased, and at the same time, it keeps the name of the funeral home first on their mind. Product awareness helps to build brand loyalty. These emails could be as simple as a quote of the day or if they are religious a scripture a day. This simple technique can help aid in the healing and grief process. 2. Provide interactive aftercare – People do not grieve just between 9 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Posting videos about grieving and overcoming loss on the funeral home’s website can help grievers when they are struggling, at any time of the day. Not only can individuals access these videos anytime, but they can do it from the privacy of their home. Once the funeral is over and the dust from all the funeral activity settles, the bereaved are often left alone. They return home to an empty house or an empty bed. There is a deep and profound silence. With this silence often comes pain and grief. This is when they need support and guidance. Offering general videos on the stages of grief or specialty videos, about dealing with the loss of a spouse or a twin, for instance, on the funeral home’s website, can help those left behind when they need the help the most. 3. Share grief resources – After a funeral, the family often consults with the funeral provider to find resources to help them through this stressful event. The best way to provide this help is once again through the funeral home’s website. Here, the funeral home can list times and dates for support groups and workshop available to the community. It can also provide a list of specialists that deal with death and loss. Finally, the website can offer links and information about books that deal with grief or specific losses. 4. Permanent online memorial – Today most funeral homes offer memorial video tributes to the family of the deceased. How does aftercare help a business grow? In an article in the Dayton Business Journal, Tracy Kershaw-Staley states (May 2, 2005) “Industry experts say aftercare programs are long-term investments with results that are often difficult to track, but they can help funeral homes build a strong reputation in their market.” The book Understanding Dying Death and Bereavement (2011) states:
When an older person dies, the grief is still there but it is not the same. The elderly person is often said “to have lived a full life” and family and friends can reflect on that person’s life and accomplishments. Aftercare comes into play now because often when a person dies today, they held a role in the family that no one else has handled before, like managing the finances or maintaining repairs on the house or car. Some also offer a place on their website to house the video, which allows extended family and friends to participate in the process, even if they were not able to be at the funeral in person. People can go online and look at the pictures, upload photos of their own, and also leave comments and share stories. This can be especially helpful for those not able to attend the funeral. This also allows children who lost a parent, sibling, or friend at a young age an opportunity to share in the person’s life through the online memorial. 5. Offering ongoing support – Grief is not something that just disappears one day; here today gone tomorrow. Also, grief can come and go. One day someone may feel fine, and the next week, they may feel overcome with sorrow. This is especially true on holidays and special events like birthdays and anniversaries. During this time, the pain can come back full force and the grief can become almost unbearable. In these situations, aftercare can once again help the bereaved push forward and start to come to terms with their loss. The key is to offer continuing service and support all year round and even beyond as needed. By doing this, the funeral home helps families through the process of grief and also adds value to their services by going above and beyond other providers. There are several levels of aftercare based on the size of the particular program. Dan Isgard created the following list in an article in the Canadian Funeral News. 1. Global programming : Aftercare events that are unlimited in their scope of influence. For example: A staff member writes an article on survivor’s benefits and places it on the funeral home’s web page. The staff member may be surprised to see the amount of people who read the article and the wide area the readers come from. 2. Large programming : Events that involve a large group all participating at one time. Many funeral homes and cemeteries host Remembrance Days and other group events. 3. Mid-sized programming : Events that involve a mid-sized group all participating at one time. This can be a group of survivors of a particular disease, such as sponsoring a Breast Cancer Run for the Cure team. 4. Boutique programs : Events that appeal to a small group at one time, for example, a survivors’ education series for twenty people at a funeral home. 5. One-on-one programming : Staff working with one person at a time. A funeral follow-up counselor works well to help a survivor complete the tedious paperwork required to turn over accounts and change titles. 6. Reverse programming : This is when families adopt a business. Imagine a special veteran’s memorial program. Maybe veterans have memorabilia that they would like to display. If the funeral home displays it as part of their local exhibit, their donation of this material is akin to their adopting the business. “Presently the majority of funeral homes providing extensive systematic aftercare are owned by individuals rather than large corporations. Funeral homes with local ownership have much more control over budget priorities and tend to be more responsive to community needs for involvement. These locally-owned funeral homes also recognize that aftercare services attract more business and therefore can
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