Week 2: Changing Attitudes and Cultural Aspects of Death

Question 1

What happened in 1918? Who was most likely to die?

Answer 1

• The influenza epidemic
• 15-34 year olds (primarily young adults)

Question 2

What was the total amount of drug overdose deaths in 2020? 2021?

Answer 2

2020: 93,655
2021: 107,622

Question 3

Who has the most drug overdose deaths?least?

Answer 3

Most: Non-Hispanic AIAN
Least: Non-hispanic asian

Question 4

What is thanatophobia?

Answer 4

Extreme fear of death or the dying process

Question 5

Who is most likely to die from a drug overdose?

Answer 5

25-44 year olds are the age groups most likely to die from an accidental overdose with men more likely to die than women

Question 6

What is the source of most drug overdose deaths?

Answer 6

Mainly due to getting addicted to prescription drugs first (pain medication)

Question 7

Explain the study of African Americans hesitancy with vaccines

Answer 7

• Tuskegee experiments, trail of tears, not trusting the medical community
• Ongoing prejudices and injustice – policing, incarceration, segregation (no trust)

Question 8

Explain hesitation of vaccines in communities

Answer 8

Pharmaceutical industry
- fears of thrombosis (blood clots)
- Pushing to take the vaccines
- Like baby powder and asbestos

Communication and Media environment
- Misinformation about vaccine safety, availability, effectiveness

• Newness and safety of the vacine
• discrimination in some health care settings

Question 9

What is the purpose of Etiquette?

Answer 9

To provide structure/guidance to a culture on acceptable behaviors
- Death of Princess Diana
- 9/11

Question 10

Show the form of etiquette used in the 1800s, 1900s, 1920s and 30s, 1970s?

Answer 10

• 1800s: home funerals, invitations sent to the home
• 1900s: women and veils, notice in newspaper, home funerals (embalming still in the home)
• 1920s + 30s: funerals in a church, use of mortuaries
• 1970s: the need to have someone at the house, blended families, acknowledgement cards

Question 11

What are some cultural aspects of death and dying?

Answer 11

• Most societies have a concept of soul and immortality
• Death rituals (burial) and related to the soul with an intent to appease the soul
• Ghosts
• Crying, fear, and emotion are common

Question 12

What are African-American traditions with death?

Answer 12

• Death comes in three’s
• Impact on the community
• With every death there is a birth
• Acknowledging and honoring the dead (attending funeral; delaying service)
• Bringing about luck
• Death serves as a release from oppression; joyous moment
• First call: funeral homes first contact with family
• Mourning wreath and porch light kept burning
• Home going ceremony (rather than funeral)
• Repast (meal after the funeral)
• Black funeral home

Question 13

What are cultural aspects of American Indians?

Answer 13

• Vast number of tribes (574) each has its own experience and practices
• Life is seen as cyclical (wholeness of life)
• People are said to walk on - rather than die
• Spiritual leaders play a key role in the ceremony for the living and the dead
• Death song: Today is a very good day to die
• Remains of the dead are considered sacred
• Native American graves protection and repatriation act
• For Lakota, grief is the closest one come to God, as a person who is grieving is the most holy

Question 14

What are cultural aspects of Asian Traditions?

Answer 14

• Yin-yang duality; embracing life and death
• Becoming an ancestor, rites performed by family members and priests
• Gravesite visitation: maintaining contact with the deceased
• Ch’ing Ming (Chinese Memorial Day): families visit graves, burn replicas of items of the deceased in order to honor the deceased
• OBon (festival of the dead Aug 13-16): A buddhist tradition and time to honor the dead, return of ancestral spirits, red lanterns are used as a symbol for the spirits of the dead
• Bon-Odori: welcoming dance for deceased souls back to the mortal world
• Japanese tombstones: a reflection of the buddhist tradition (listing of both dead and the living)
• Date found on tombstone is for when stone was erected

Question 15

What are the cultural aspects of Hispanic Traditions?

Answer 15

• November 1st : The Day of the Dead (10/31-11/2)
• Picnics in cemeteries: a day filled with eating, drinking and singing, candies and breads in skull shapes
• On the night of November 1st, the spirits of the dead are welcomed back into the world
• Gravesides are decorated with flowers (marigolds) and candles (Virgin Mary)
• Toys are provided for children and tequila for adults
• Families will build ofrendas (altars) in their home
• Memorial crosses at accident sites

Question 16

What is The Wake? and its purpose?

Answer 16

Purpose:
- To bring people together to honor the dead
- To prevent the ravaging of the corpse; rats, cats, and anything else that ends in ts
- To deter grave robbers from taking body for medical research
- To comfort survivors
- To acknowledge the person has died

Question 17

What’s the difference between coffins and caskets

Answer 17

• Coffins: shaped shoulders/toe pinchers
• Caskets: square corners

Question 18

What is the difference between Cultural humility and cultural competence?

Answer 18

Cultural competence is the ability to work respectfully with people from diverse cultures, while recognizing one’s own cultural biases. Cultural humility is the ability to recognize one’s own limitations in order to avoid making assumptions about other cultures.May 12, 2022

Question 19

What are the four things that matter most?

Answer 19

Book by Ira Byook emphasizing Four simple phrases: “Please forgive me,” “I forgive you,” “Thank you,” and “I love you” — carry enormous power to mend and nurture our relationships and inner lives. These four phrases and the sentiments they convey can help us resolve interpersonal difficulties with integrity and grace.