Ep. 368 Why Death Education is Important with Karen Wyatt

End-of-Life University

Learn some ideas for how you might teach others in your community about death and dying and why you should.

In today’s solo episode I’ll share with you my thoughts on why death education is so essential in our society today. No matter what type of work you do in the end-of-life field (estate attorney, hospice staff, death doula, home funeral guide, green burial practitioner, bereavement counselor) you need to help educate your community about death, dying and grief if you want people to utilize your services. Right now we ALL need to become death educators in our own special way and I’ll talk about why that’s true and how you might get involved.

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Listen here:

This episode includes:

• We are living longer and developing complex diseases (like Alzheimer’s) with increasing incidence.
• Medical tech continues to advance rapidly allowing us to prolong life (even when patient’s don’t want that).
• Our society is divided over ethical and moral dilemmas around end-of-life issues like medical aid in dying and removal of life support.
• Being unprepared for death has a high financial cost (too much medical care and wasteful after-death care)
• There is also and emotional and spiritual cost to ignoring death.
• Where we need to be teaching about death, dying and grief:
  • The home – showing parents how to talk to their children about death
  • Schools – teaching high school and college students about death through classes, book clubs, discussion groups
  • Churches – clergy members need to know about EOL issues in order to better serve their congregations
  • Workplaces – employers and staff need to know how to deal with death and grief at work
  • Medical facilities – of course all medical personnel need much more education about death, grief, and how to deal with EOL decisions
  • Assisted living and nursing homes – staff also need to know how to handle grief, help residents with ACP, create sacred space for dying residents

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Death and Dying Class Instructor Training
• Step-by-Step Roadmap for End-of-Life Planning
• Episode 127: The Consequences of Ignoring Death
• Map of Memory Lane by Francesca Arnoldy

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