Funeral directors The roles of a funeral director in the bereavement service provision sector include the following: ● Embalming- preservation to prevent decomposition of the body. ● Burial. Voluntary/third sector The services rendered by charities and non-profit organizations are included in this sector. Since such organizations frequently rely on grants and charitable contributions, there are restrictions on staffing, and at certain times there will typically be a response machine instead of actual staff to respond to calls. General considerations of what helps Although, most people regain diminished abilities and adjust to bereavement, the severity, extent, and effects of grief have drawn the attention of a variety of institutional and individual caregivers. Some service providers intend to promote the normal bereavement process, and others design their services to support individuals with particular difficulties or adverse responses to grief, or others at high risk of developing complicated grief. Some bereavement services are generally directed at the bereaved; others are directed at people who share particular circumstances of deprivation. Programs can Facilitating grief through funeral rituals Everybody suffers through a loss, whether it is the death of a loved one, the end of a romantic relationship, or some sort of serious life setback. The process of navigating through that grief often involves "rituals" of mourning that vary in different cultures throughout history. Funeral practices for people of different religions can vary widely. For example, among the Jews, along with the intricate funeral rituals associated with death, mourners are often required to tear a garment. In some aspects of Judaism, men are prohibited from shaving their beards. On the other hand, as part of the mourning ritual, bereaved Hindu males may shave off their heads and beards. Support groups Mutual support or self-help groups are communities of individuals who have the same issue, plight or condition in life and who are joined for mutual aid purposes. That commonality factor is precisely what defines group inclusion. Participants make all choices on material, organization, and external relations. Mutual support groups provide: ● Improved sense of self-worth by concentrating on how members are similar to those facing the same situation. ● An opportunity to share coping techniques based on realistic expectations for optimal functioning. ● A person-to-person exchange based on identification and reciprocity. ● Reinforcement for positive change and maintenance of effort toward change through feedback on performance. ● Access to a body of specialized information.
● Cremation. ● Arrangement of funeral ceremonies. ● Dressing. ● Cosseting- applying make up on the body for cosmetic purposes. ● Casketing- putting the body in the coffin. Most of the support groups have a small or even unpaid workforce and provide their many programs with the help of volunteers. This also means that there may be a waiting list, particularly for counseling support. This sector includes: ● Many hospices and some home nursing services. ● Most bereavement support and self-help organizations. ● Many advice agencies. be tailored to support similarly bereaved people, families, or organizations. These interventions include the following: ● Mutual support or self-help groups. ● Widow-to-Widow program designed to assist people going through the critical life transition initiated by the death of a spouse, which results in a sudden change in social status (from wife to widow) and requires significant changes in self- concept, roles, and tasks. ● Hospices. ● Psychotherapeutic interventions. ● Medications such as anti-anxiety drugs, antidepressants, hypnotics and sedatives. Mourning rituals can also carefully regulate how mourners react emotionally to death. Tibetan Buddhists find crying during funerals to be upsetting while other cultures, including Latino Catholics, regard crying as a sign of reverence. Rituals can also vary with gender. Crying at a funeral, for example, is considered more acceptable to women than to men. Male mourners are often assumed to be more stoic in handling their loss. But grieving is not always about a loved one dying. Rituals can also help people get to grips with grief after losing a friendship, a job, or even a big race. ● Improved sense of personal worth, by reflecting on how members are comparable to those facing the same situation. ● An arena for advocacy and social change. ● An opportunity for education, not only of other persons with similar problems but also professionals and the public. ● A chance to help others by giving concrete aid and providing a role model. ● Help for the helpers who themselves are aided by assisting others and by activism toward shared goals. Mutual help groups have been organized as alternative caregiving systems, adjuncts to the professional caregiving system, and independent strategic elements in interdependent networks of formal and informal caregiving systems in communities.
Course Code: FGA01MH
EliteLearning.com/Funeral
Book Code: FGA0524
Page 23
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