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September 23-24, 2019 | Prague, Czech Republic
2nd International Conference on
Palliative Care
Clinical Trials and Pharmacovigilance
Joint Event
&
Changing the face of death and dying in our community
Christiane Zeithammel
Death Doula Ottawa, Canada
Disease to death is often shrouded in fear. Fear of death
is like a plague that devours the life force and steals
living from lives. Death anxiety exists in various degrees and
cultivates suffering in our culture. Some people are afraid of
all things associated with death. Others may fear their own
mortality, and some may be afraid of it all. We have become a
deathfearingsocietythatspendsvitalenergyseekingoutways
to stay young to avoid death. As we know death is a part of
life. As a death doula I am part of a death positive movement.
A movement that is required to change the culture of fear
and silence around death. Death needs to stand amongst
us; visible and heard amongst the living. Death is happening
in every moment; death is as natural as our next exhale.
Open and honest advocacy around death can make a
difference. A difference that is essential. It was made aware
to me in my young years working as a nurse. People were
not dying the way that I knew they should be. They were
abandoned, left dying alone, in institutions, lying in cold
bathroom, the doors closed on death so no one would bear
witness to it. I knew this is NOT the way this should be! I was
made so clearly aware that changes were essential. Changes
such as bringing death to the living, in this death positive
approach we can provide a different death experience. One
that can be supported in the comfort of people’s place of
celebration, love and life, at home, with families and loved
ones nearby. An experience that is lived all the way to and
through death and beyond is supported by a death doula who
encourages the dying person and their loved ones to come
face to face with death, to move beyond the death denial
and to engage in an open and authentic exploration of dying.
In the experiences as a death doula in a death positive
movement it is found that death can be all that it is part of
life with all of its curiosity, emotionality and fears alive and
safely supported in a matter of fact way. A death positive
movement and the role of a death doula is a panacea for
death phobia and a potent catalyst of change to bring
death back to the living in a holistic and fully honoring way.
Speaker Biography
Christiane Zeithammel worked as a nurse in Germany for many years.
After marriage she moved to Canada where she dedicated her energy
and nurturing nature to raising a family of four boys. As her children have
now reached adulthood, it has made for a long-anticipated return to her
work. A work that focuses on caring for the dying and supporting their
families. With her skills as a nurse, a mother, a certified yoga teacher and
a graduate of the Contemplative End of Life Care Program at the Institute
for Traditional Medicine in Toronto she passionately supports those in her
community as a death doula.
e:
Journal of Primary Care and General Practice | Volume 2
J Prim Care Gen Pract, Volume:2