Creating Rituals to Honor the Dead at Long-Term Care Facilities

Long-term care facilities see death on a regular basis, but yet its profound presence is not readily admitted nor dealt with, so the emotions that occur – for the surviving residents as well as the staff – ripple through the building. “Long-term care administrators view death as something that might upset residents,” said Dr. Toni Miles, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Georgia. “So, when someone passes away, doors are closed and the body is wheeled discretely out the back on a gurney. It’s like that person never existed.”

At Gray Health & Rehabilitation in Georgia, the staff are attempting to alter the way the institution deals with grief and death by having an annual bereavement ceremony, celebrating the lives of all the residents that passed away during the following year. Chap Nelson, Gray Health’s administrator, has instituted several policies that Miles’ bereavement guide recommends as best practices. All employees are taught what to do when a resident dies and when possible, they’re encouraged to attend the off-site funerals. Every death is acknowledged inside the building, rather than hidden away behind doors.

“Our loved ones continue to live on in the memories in your hearts,” Rev. Steve Johnson, pastor of Bradley Baptist Church, said from a podium.

See Judith Graham, Creating Rituals to Honor The Dead at Long-Term Care Facilities, KHN.org, September 4, 2018.

Special thanks to Naomi Cahn (Harold H. Greene Professor of Law, George Washington University School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.