Innovation at the End of Life

This book presents original research, insight and analysis on innovative methods, theories, topics and issues at the end of life and in death's aftermath. The volume provides a rich and diverse array of chapters that cover a range of challenges and opportunities in death and dying in the twenty-first century.

Kate Woodthorpe is Professor in Sociology at the Centre for Death and Society, the University of Bath. Jeremy Dixon is a Reader in Social Work at the Centre for Adult Social Care Research (CARE) at Cardiff University.

Introduction: Innovation at the end of life 1. Digital afterlife leaders: professionalisation as a social innovation in the digital afterlife industry 2. Contemporary responses in Africa to the aftermath of death: developments and decolonising challenges 3. Tree burials as undefined spatial alternatives for graves in France: stakes and constraints of nature-based concessions within French funerary regulations 4. Saying hello again rather than a long goodbye: a novel way of addressing pre-death grief and facilitating continuing bonds for dementia caregivers 5. Ayahs at the deathbed re-visioning elder care: bereavement support and anchorage for in-home dying older adults in urban India 6. An exploration of sociopolitical grief 7. Resonance and alienation in dying 8. Decolonising the aftermath of death in UK contexts: theoretical approaches, institutional 'constraints', and everyday experiences 9. 'If I break your leg, you won't ask me to fix it for you': innovative explorations in 'decolonising' UK bereavement services 10. Grief, choice and digital technology use: how bereaved people use digital technologies to support their grief 11. Walking amongst the dead: learning on the move 12. Improvising end-of-life with young children: death/s and its absolute 13. Examining the role of card game in promoting death awareness in Thailand 14. Critical approaches to death studies: a conversation