Why learn about experiences and emotions related to death and dying?
A dying process that allows an individual to make choices about treatment, to say goodbyes, and to take care of final arrangements is what many people hope for. Such a death might be considered a “good death.” But of course, many deaths do not occur in this way. Not all deaths include such a dialogue with family members or being able to die in familiar surroundings; people may die suddenly and alone or leave home and never return. Children sometimes precede parents in death; wives precede husbands, and the homeless are bereaved by strangers.
In this module, we will look at death and dying, grief and bereavement, palliative care, and hospice to understand these last stages of life better.
It is important to remember perspective when understanding Death and Dying from an Indigenous worldview. This topic, viewed in a circle is directly connected to birth and beginning. To fully appreciate most Indigenous peoples traditional approach to death and dying it is important to understand the creation story, world view and spirituality of the Indigenous nation. As always, there is not one singular creation story, worldview or spiritual understanding among all Indigenous people, not even among all Indigenous people in Canada or Turtle Island. Having said that, it may be possible to speak generally about Indigenous spirituality in order to start to get a better understanding of the approach to Death and Dying.
Reading the following paper, or excerpts from it will be helpful for a better understanding of death and dying in both the Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee culture. This resource is written by Dianne Longboat, a traditional teacher and healer from Six Nations of the Grand River. The resource shares valuable perspectives on cultural practices and beliefs from both the Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee people.
INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES ON DEATH AND DYING – Dianne Longboat (Longboat, 2002)
In this video by Canadian Virtual Hospice, Richard describes the comfort that sweat lodges and smudging ceremonies bring family members during the time of illness and grief.
Richard: The value of ceremonies for family members (YouTube, 2016)
Finally, this resource will help students appreciate the cultural sensitivity of the subject of Indigenous teachings around Death and dying.
Reclaiming cultural teachings about mortality, grief, loss, death and dying (Dobec, 2022)
Deep Dive:
Reflect on the different views expressed in this section compared to the collective Western understanding and practices around death and dying.
What you’ll learn to do: describe the leading causes and types of deaths
While death has always been a universal component in the human experience, its prevalence and circumstances have changed over the years. Today, we associate death with the elderly, but looking back even one hundred years ago, death was more common among children and in various age ranges. At that time, it was not uncommon for American families to lose a child during childbirth or infancy. Today less than 10% of all deaths worldwide occur to children under the age of 5, but as recently as 1990, that number was nearly 25%.
The graph above shows data from 2016, which reveals that nearly half of the 55 million global deaths occurred to those aged 70 years or older. There is still a great amount of disparity in death statistics based on location and access to medical care. In the United States, for example, deaths in that same age group of 70 years old or older accounted for 65% of total deaths. In this section, we’ll look more closely at the leading causes of death in the United States and throughout the globe.
Learning outcomes
- Examine the leading causes of death in the United States and worldwide
- Explain physiological death
- Describe social and psychological death
