If there has to be a reason for another book on death, dying and bereavement, it is this: a subject which is of timeless significance for human beings as individuals, nevertheless is experienced in a social context, and that context is changing rapidly, irreversibly and, some would argue, fundamentally. Health and social care practitioners are both affected by these changes on a personal level and as professionals must negotiate their role and task to take account of this changing scene. It may be true that death is a universal human experience and in this sense the great leveller, but in every other respect it seems that dying and bereavement throw up a complex mesh of issues unique to the individual, yet shaped by prevailing social, political, legal, economic, philosophical, religious and cultural imperatives. The overarching theme of this book is that process of negotiation; its quest is the search for a knowledge base which is relevant and a practice framework which is ‘fit for purpose’ in contemporary health and social care settings. There is one principal limitation concerning the scope of the book which must be acknowledged at the outset. Neither global context nor cultural variation can be covered exhaustively although both are key themes in the argument and international examples and multicultural references are woven throughout. There is admittedly something of a focus on the UK but it is to be hoped that this serves to provide an in-depth starting point rather than exclusive discussion.
In this process of ‘negotiating death’ it is the context of the twenty-first century which determines the prevailing attitudes to death, the practices created to mark its occurrence and the accommodation of the experiences of dying and bereavement.
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