Culture, Traditions and Being Remembered
There are as many end of life rituals as their are cultures. Each intended to ease through the dying process and to help those left behind to move on, while celebrating a life lived, and honouring memories.
For some memories are triggered by a treasured momento: a piece of jewellery, a hand-knitted blanket. For many, it’s photographs, special occasion cards, scrapbooks. For some, it’s a project worked on together for a shared experience to remember: creating a puzzle together or – using available technology – iphone video conversation. Virtual experiences offer more options: a Facebook memorial page, a shared photo library.
Music Therapy: Unlocking the soul
Music has charms they say.. (Joe Jackson: ‘Slow Song’) Amy Clements-Cortes For Amy Clements-Cortes, PhD, MusM, MTA, the charm of music is its ability to accomplish a multitude of health and wellness goals. One of Amy’s areas of specialty is end of life music therapy...
Dr Michael Gordon: geriatrician and humanist
Dr Michael Gordon on playing music together, information vs knowledge and sex. Dr Michael Gordon, Geriatrician (amongst other things) What a wonderful wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Michael Gordon, Geriatrician, Writer, and Ethicist. Not necessarily in that order....
The ABC’s of AED (Automated External Defibrillator)
An Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is not an Implantable Cardiac Device (ICD) You may have seen them in sports clubs, bars and public transit locations. Unlike an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator), which have been known to keep a person alive even as...
Rodger Harding: my parents’ good deaths made me less fearful
"They both died young, but they'd accepted death" Rodger Harding’s mom died of colon cancer, his father 3 years later of emphysema. “They both died young – 61 and 69 – but because they’d both accepted that they were dying, it took away the terror – for them and for...
