Dementia loved ones 'benefit from visits' - BBC News

"A survey found that 42% of the public think there is no point in keeping up contact at this stage.
But the Alzheimer's Society said family visits stimulated feelings of happiness, comfort and security.
Even as the condition progresses, it said people with dementia can still hold an "emotional memory".
This means they continue to feel happy long after a visit or experience that they may have forgotten."



Dementia loved ones 'benefit from visits' - BBC News

The Inspired Funeral

"Planning for your own death and getting acquainted both with what is traditional and what is newly possible in today’s end-of-life rituals can be a spiritual practice that helps you face your own mortality with courage and in a way that reflects your most deeply-held values. Sadly, people who postpone funeral discussions are too frequently confronted with decisions involving thousands of dollars as they hold tissues in their hands.

Join journalist and NY-licensed funeral director Amy Cunningham as she explains fascinating (uplifting!) new trends in today’s funeral business and offers timely, helpful information on such topics as: how to plan a reasonably-priced, back-to-basics funeral or memorial service; the “green burial” movement and green cemeteries near New York City; new thinking on the burial shroud; cremation’s pros and cons; biodegradable caskets; blended-faith/alternative ceremonies; and much more."



The Inspired Funeral

Rethinking Death (NPR)

Listen to NPR's excellent "Rethinking Death," with TED speakers on topics from last wishes to burial to comforting those who are at the end of life.

Reevely: Father’s death drives Ottawa South MPP’s efforts to improve Ontario’s palliative care | Ottawa Citizen

“We invest a lot — as parents, as a society, as a government — when people come into this world. I think going out deserves the same sort of attention and support,” Fraser says, and he means from everyone.

People’s worlds narrow when they’re dying, he says, but the things they still want, they want very badly. “It’s generally acknowledgments of what’s important to you — often, that’s just that you’re here and it matters,” Fraser says."

Reevely: Father’s death drives Ottawa South MPP’s efforts to improve Ontario’s palliative care | Ottawa Citizen

Review: A Widow Documents Her Loss in ‘The Iceberg’ - The New York Times

"This book is about love and witness. “There is going to be destruction: the obliteration of a person, his intellect, his experience and his agency,” Ms. Coutts writes. “I am to watch it. This is my part.”

She chronicles in close detail the fluctuations of her husband’s illness. She also delivers acute writing about her own physical and mental burdens. “I have never cried like this,” she writes early on. “The fatigue of it is seismic. This is crying as main violence to the self.”

She adds, in words that give this book its title: “The shock feels greater because the tears are my first intimation of scale. I am nearing the iceberg. My tears are sonar. They release on impact a faint understanding of what lies beneath: a vast solid, the floating mass of ice that is still to come.”

Review: A Widow Documents Her Loss in ‘The Iceberg’ - The New York Times

11 most common questions people as ask they're dying

A moving essay from a death doula.



"No matter what someone is asking, the most important thing is that they are heard. That their pain and anguish, their hopes and dreams, their worries and their fears are all given a voice. When a person at the end of their life is talking, the greatest gift we can give them is to listen. Here are the most common questions I'm asked, and how I respond."

She says they want to know what is happening, whether it will hurt, whether there is anything they need to do, and what will happen when they're gone.



11 most common questions people as ask they're dying

Against Grieving in Silence | Rachel Stephenson | TEDxCUNY