A forum for people to relate to about dying and death

Over the centuries different religions have evolved ars moriendi, ‘art of dying’ process for assisting the dying prepare for the final moments of their lives. Although I have written articles about the final act of dying, including one titled ‘What is death’ in a blog written in my webpage. I have never ventured to discover what sort of secular services may be available in the community to assist people to begin to prepare for their demise. There are two references I draw reader attention to that they may find are assets in their preparation for the final act of dying. In my opinion a good starting point would be to learn about a new ‘death café’ movement that is encouraging people to commence talking about dying. It is becoming an international movement. It claims its aim is to assist people to have a better experience of death.

A second reference point I found was a presentation mounted by the ABC online. It is part of a wider ABC health story feature. The article talks about what is a good death and is there such a thing? The article also talks about both good deaths and hard deaths and what either may mean to both the dying person and also their loved ones. It is rather a lengthy piece. However, I feel it is probably good reference material for those that may feel it could be useful one day. The respective url’s are:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-15/death-cafe-brisbane-end-of-life/5018806

http://www.abc.net.au/health/features/stories/2013/09/17/3850443.htm