Funeral planning is not something that we want to consider or think about however it is a reality we all have to face at some time or another in the course of our lives. While the subject may not be one you are very familiar with or one that you even want to be familiar with it is nevertheless helpful to have a good understanding of the various factors that make up funeral services.
When it comes to funeral planning the funeral director has a major role to play. The majority of funeral homes in the United States are family affairs. Some funeral homes are small and intimate with the funeral director fulfilling a number of functions including collecting the body of the deceased and transporting it to the funeral home for preparation for the
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These are qualified professionals who work in the business of funeral rites and control the whole funeral planning and funeral service. Among their tasks are embalming of the body which entails the removal of the blood and the insertion of embalming fluid, burial or cremation preferences, and planning and arranging the funeral …show more content…
Funeral planning involves a number of different issues and since there are so many practical considerations that must be addressed it is advisable to utilize the services of a professional funeral director. A funeral director is also experienced in dealing with grief and the grieving process and therefore proves beneficial in assisting the family through this process. There are also a number of legal requirements when it comes to funeral services and funeral planning that the undertaker or mortician can guide you on.
Generally speaking a funeral is conducted at the funeral home and then proceeds to the burial ground for the interment which the funeral director will oversee to ensure that it is carried out correctly. Funeral directors will usually make a view or visitation possible and this is often scheduled for the day preceding the funeral service so as to allow the family and friends an opportunity to gather together at the home to pay their respects to the deceased in private. While available to offer and provide assistance if need be the funeral director remains discreetly in the
Since each funeral home is for the majority independent, the “leader” is either the owner or the manager. The position is achieved th...
In the past four decades the cost of a funeral service has risen 1,328% (Boring) and that’s not just because Morticians wanted to out of pure greed. One must take into account that modern mortuaries are much more of a business than before. Prior to 1970, the majority of funeral homes were were independent, family run. Today about 14% of funeral homes are run by a publicly traded corporation (Boring) meaning there’s a plethora of capital involved in these businesses now. The homes are built better and by professionals rather than by individuals with some tools, the home’s are extremely more sanitary since there’s more than likely no one living in these funeral homes unlike before, and the quality of the products these services are providing is greater than before.
“In most human society's death is an extremely important cultural and social phenomenon, sometimes more important than birth” (Ohnuki-Tierney, Angrosino, & Daar et al. 1994). In the United States of America, when a body dies it is cherished, mourned over, and given respect by the ones that knew the person. It is sent to the morgue and from there the family decides how the body should be buried or cremated based on...
...shes to see their loved one for the final time, can pay their respects, with the closest family members going last. Family and friends are welcome in one's home after someone passes to preclude them of the loneliness of their lost one. Cremations are not uncommon.
Hospice focuses on end of life care. When patients are facing terminal illness and have an expected life sentence of days to six months or less of life. Care can take place in different milieu including at home, hospice care center, hospital, and skilled nursing facility. Hospice provides patients and family the tool and resources of how to come to the acceptance of death. The goal of care is to help people who are dying have peace, comfort, and dignity. A team of health care providers and volunteers are responsible for providing care. A primary care doctor and a hospice doctor or medical director will patients care. The patient is allowed to decide who their primary doctor will be while receiving hospice care. It may be a primary care physician or a hospice physician. Nurses provide care at home by vising patient at home or in a hospital setting facility. Nurses are responsible for coordination of the hospice care team. Home health aides provide support for daily and routine care ( dressing, bathing, eating and etc). Spiritual counselors, Chaplains, priests, lay ministers or other spiritual counselors can provide spiritual care and guidance for the entire family. Social workers provide counseling and support. They can also provide referrals to other support systems. Pharmacists provide medication oversight and suggestions regarding the most effective
Morbid Funeral Home, Inc. is an accrual basis taxpayer who sells preneed funeral contracts. Customers pay Morbid in advance for goods and services to be provided at the contract beneficiary’s death. Under state law the payments are refundable if the contract purchaser requests them any time until the goods and services are furnished. Morbid, for both financial and tax accounting purposes, includes the payments in income for the year the funeral service is provided. Morbid insists that the amounts it receives under the contracts are customer deposits. The IRS agent insists that the payments are prepaid income that is subject to tax in the year of receipt.
Being a consolidated funeral home they can offer cheaper services for those without a great deal of income, but they can also provide the top-of –the-line funeral service for those who want to pay for it.
the size of the funeral home at which you work and the number of cases handled.
As soon as the public funeral end, the community will end their fasting and return to normal life when the gong drum is beaten while the deceased family continue grief for another forty days and continue to wear the funeral cloths during this period. Deceased’s family meet again at the end of forty days to select the best person to inherit the deceased’s material belongings and take over the deceased’s duties, after this selection, then drink is poured by the family as honour to the deceased once again.
You are at the funeral home and you receive a death call from a family who has not heard from Uncle Joe for two days. It is fall and the weather is cool so you do not have to worry about rapid decomposition like you would in the hot 80 to 90 degree summer months. Upon arrival and making the removal the family states that they would like to have visitation with an open casket.
A funeral is an important event that should be planned with careful consideration, as each person only gets one to celebrate his or her life. People often die expectantly and suddenly leaving any funeral and burial arrangements in the hands of friends or relatives. These friends or family of the deceased may or may not have a good understanding of what the deceased would have preferred in his or her post death arrangements. A person planning his or her own funeral can prevent this guessing game and insure the arrangements are to their specifications.
Imagine yourself as a mortician, certified as an embalmer, retort operator, funeral director, and a funeral cosmetologist. You get a call late at night, there’s been a terrible accident and someone has died. You arrive at the hospital and are directed to a small room where the body of the deceased is being held. There’s blood all over the sheets as the doctor and coronary assistant zip up the body bag and inform you the body was badly mangled in a car accident, which is going to make reconstructing the deceased very difficult. Your assistant puts the body on the stretcher and loads it into the hearse while you talk to the wife of the deceased man. She tells you they plan to have a funeral so you give her your card and a reassuring word before leaving the hospital and driving back to the funeral home. Now your job begins, not only will you have to reconstruct this man’s disfigured body, but you must meet with the family, discuss funeral arrangements, and deal with the family’s emotional trauma that comes with losing a loved one. Although working in the funeral business can be emotionally draining, it’s a satisfying feeling to see mourning families able to say goodbye to their loved ones. Despite the fact that working so closely with the deceased can be chilling, Mortuary science can be a thrilling field to work in.
Funeral directors are full time employees. They sometimes are on call and have to work some weekends and holidays (collegegrad.com). “The median annual wage for undertakers was $46, 840 in May 2012” (ibid). Most plans for a funeral service are made within twenty-four to twenty-seven hours after the time of death (ibid). This means that funeral directors typically handle more than one funeral at a time (ibid). There are three types of funerals that the family of the deceased may choose from: a “traditional” full service funeral, immediate burial, or direct cremation (Wikipedia.com). If one desires an open casket funeral, the deceased would need to be embalmed. Embalming is the process of removing blood from the deceased’s body and replacing it with embalming fluid in order to preserve the body (collegegrad.com). When embalming, a funeral director must follow five steps: one-checking paperwork and identifying the body to make sure no mix up between funeral homes has been made, and two-disinfecting the body and setting the features (cracked.com). “Setting the features is where we pose and manipulate the person’s face to give them that ‘just sleeping’ appearance” (ibid). Restoration might also be necessary depending on the condition of the body. Restoration is the process of using materials and cosmetics to return the body back to the way it used to look or at least close to it (ibid). Besides preparing the
It can also be quite stressful for the dying individual if the family members are attempting to plan their funeral and they are unable to communicate their wishes (Callanan & Kelley, 1992: 42-43). This issue of miscommunication occurs closer to death, so if the planning process starts soon enough the dying individual should be able to effectively communicate their wishes (Callanan & Kelley, 1992: 42-43). It has also impacted the dying individual in positive ways. Because of this, there are now places that individuals can transition into before the actual dying process begins. For example, in past decades, individuals with dementia would have to stay at home and be cared for by their friends and family, who while trying their best, may not have been able to cope with the demands of that individual along with their own personal lives (Dosa, 2010). Now, these individuals, when money and resources allow, are able to access special institutions and sectors in hospitals that are specially equipped to deal with those demands (Dosa, 2010). But this transition has plenty of financial challenges that go along with
The subject of death and dying is a common occurrence in the health care field. There are many factors involved in the care of a dying patient and various phases the patient, loved ones and even the healthcare professional may go through. There are many controversies in health care related to death, however much of it roots from peoples’ attitudes towards it. Everyone handles death differently; each person has a right to their own opinions and coping mechanisms. Health care professionals are very important during death related situations; as they are a great source of support for a patient and their loved ones. It is essential that health care professionals give ethical, legal and honest care to their patients, regardless of the situation.