Chapter 2: Trends in the Funeral Industry 3 Contact Hours
Course overview This basic-level course will bring funeral professionals up to speed on current trends in the funeral industry, with an emphasis on green funerals, cremation, and burial practices. The course Learning objectives Identify and describe three significant changes in the funeral industry during the past decade. Explain the difference between preplanning and preneed contracts. Define the primary goals of green burials and requirements for certification. Describe alternatives for a viewing without embalming. Illustrate the components of a home funeral and a backyard burial. List three ways to make a funeral service less resource intensive. Implicit bias in healthcare Implicit bias significantly affects how healthcare professionals perceive and make treatment decisions, ultimately resulting in disparities in health outcomes. These biases, often unconscious and unintentional, can shape behavior and produce differences in medical care along various lines, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, and socioeconomic status. Healthcare disparities stemming from implicit bias can manifest in several ways. For example, a healthcare provider might unconsciously give less attention to a patient or make assumptions about their medical needs based on race, gender, or age. The unconscious assumptions can lead to delayed or inadequate care, misdiagnoses, or inappropriate treatments, all of which can adversely impact health outcomes. Addressing
also covers the benefits of using social media for marketing, ways to meet increased client demand for pet funeral services, and OSHA and NFDA guidelines for formaldehyde use.
Compare and contrast traditional and natural cemeteries. Identify two new guidelines from OSHA and NFDA for the safe use of formaldehyde. Define resomation and describe the process. List three ways cremations can be made more green. Analyze how to use social media networking to market a business. Describe the most common services and/or merchandise associated with pet funerals. implicit bias in healthcare is crucial for achieving equity in medical treatment. Strategies to combat these biases involve education and awareness programs for healthcare professionals. These programs help individuals recognize and acknowledge their biases, fostering a more empathetic and unbiased approach to patient care. Additionally, implementing policies and procedures prioritizing equitable treatment for all patients can play a pivotal role in reducing healthcare disparities. Ultimately, confronting implicit bias in healthcare is essential to creating a more just and equitable healthcare system where everyone receives fair and equal treatment regardless of their background or characteristics.
INTRODUCTION
(Cremation Association of North America, n.d.). The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) projects the discrepancy between cremation and burial rates will grow even larger and that in 2021, cremation will represent 57.5%, while burial will represent 36.6%, of decisions (National Funeral Directors Association, 2022). By 2030, cremation is projected to represent 71% of decisions, while burial will decline to only 23%. This indicates that competition will increase as funeral homes will be joined by a variety of vendors and industry specialists offering expanded services and products, including comprehensive concierge support, increased personalization options, and pet funerals. Funeral professionals must stay informed about current trends, embrace new technology, and expand their roles to address the industry and consumers’ preferences and demands. There are 71 million baby boomers—that is, persons born between 1946 and 1964—alive today (Fri, 2020). The majority will make end-of-life and/or funeral decisions that are better informed, more inquisitive, better funded, and less deferential to authority figures than those of their parents. Traditional open-casket funerals may not be the norm in these decisions, as customers are increasingly comfortable considering other options. In addition to the rise of cremation, consumer attitudes about funerals have changed significantly, shifting from traditional funerals toward options that are more environmentally friendly, cost effective, personalized, and/or natural. There are no
Current trends in the funeral industry require competitive funeral businesses to develop new skills as the industry becomes a mix of old and new traditions. These new skills and traditions include the use of technology, environmental safety, personalized presentations, natural and/or green practices, home funerals, and pet cremation and burials. These trends are changing the funeral industry across the U.S. The U.S. death rate will peak in the 2020s as older baby boomers reach their mid-70s; however, the number of burials will continue to drop, the number of cremations will continue to increase, and consequently, a broader range of services and products will need to be available to a wider consumer base. According to the Cremation Association of North America, by 2025 the projected rate of cremation will reach 61.4% in the U.S. Changing attitudes toward funerals Widely held beliefs regarding death, funerals, and burials are changing around the world. A deceased’s body is not considered a hazardous threat to public safety, unless it has been diagnosed with a serious communicable disease. Materials used in preserving the body are increasingly the cause of environmental safety concerns. Industry professionals are aware that embalming fluid can be hazardous for personnel who work with it and for the public. Concerns regarding the environmental risks associated with embalming chemicals led the European Union to consider a ban. In the U.S., the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) has expressed dismay that funeral home effluent is not regulated and that waste is often flushed into a sewer system or a septic tank.
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