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. Stemming from the University of Bath's Centre for Death and Society Annual Conference in 2023 and a subsequent special issue of the journal Mortality, it presents contributions from scholars at all stages of their career, from PhD students to internationally renowned professors. 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. This includes, the role of technology and its facilitators, the potential in bringing together different disciplinary perspectives and theories, and novel techniques in engaging people with the topic of death and dying. Innovation at the End of Life will be a valuable resource for students, researchers, academics, and practitioners across multiple disciplines including sociology, anthropology, psychology, medical humanities, social work, and healthcare studies. It is particularly suited for death studies scholars, thanatologists, healthcare professionals and grief counsellors.

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