Collective Grief: Large-Scale Mourning
In some ways, the circumstances of any death are irrelevant to the nature of the grief experienced by mourners: In each case mourners experience loss, usually based on...
The Postmortem Brain Speaks
Whether talking about whole, intact cadavers or piecemeal specimens (like an oversized heart, say, or a cancerous lung) the tissues of the dead are among the most valuable...
Florida Medical Examiner Sues Funeral Directors for Complaining About Her
District 1 Medical Examiner Dr. Deanna Oleske is bringing charges against area funeral directors who submitted formal criticism about her performance of her duties by sending letters to...
The Catholic Church On End of Life and Last Rites
Last Rites… the term itself is ominous. Pop culture and the media have bandied the phrase about for years without clearly bringing meaning to what such rites encompass....
Funeral Executors: Your Biggest Questions, Answered
What’s the role of a “funeral executor?” More and more frequently, people are appointing “funeral executors” – sometimes also called “funeral agents” – in the role of seeing...
Death in Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality serves multiple functions in deathcare, from helping people come to grips with their own mortality to hosting visits with the recently deceased. And over the past...
Getting Creative With Grief Therapy
There’s been a popular view for some time that creativity can help those who are grieving. The idea is well-established enough to have assumed a mantle of merit...
Embalming Fluid as a Controlled Substance: The Rakim Shackleford Act
House Bill 278 (Public) Filed Monday, March 6, 2023 AN ACT TO CREATE THE OFFENSE OF CRIMINAL POSSESSION AND UNLAWFUL SALE OF EMBALMING FLUID AND TO MAKE OTHER...
Retain Your Top Talent: How to Fulfill Employees
In the 2023 version of our annual deathcare survey, the #2 top reader concern was how to attract and retain top talent. Since our goal here at Connecting...
Emergency Action Plans: How to Prepare for Problem Families Ahead of Time
Funerals are emotional events, and deathcare professionals learn quickly what to expect at every stage, from first contact to interment. Every funeral is different, so there’s always potential...