Slow Down When Someone Dies by Lin Carruthers and Kate Clark
Written in collaboration with Scottish organisation Pushing up the Daisies, this book takes the reader gently, but in a very practical way, through the whole process of what to do when someone you care for dies. It aims to enable people to take time to choose options that are right for them, rather than feeling rushed through the things that are required to be done, from removing the remains and choosing an undertaker to completing paperwork. It is designed to help folk feel more in charge.
The authors encourage the reader to think about issues around death in advance and what they would like to see happen to them and their loved one. The book offers alternatives that hark back to a previous age, such as tending to the person at home once they have drawn their last breath and even laying them out. Kindly emphasis at all times is placed on whatever feels appropriate to the bereaved. Questions are posed to enable us all to think about the sort of things we might ask before death: what is legally possible; what happens when someone dies; key decisions that need to be considered; looking after ourselves and so on. The chapters are short with the material presented in a most accessible and attractive way, and that includes the font size. This book helps us think about what many of us find difficult to think about.
[We have a copy of Slow Down When Someone Dies in the Library. If anyone would like to talk through some of the issues raised in the book please email us and we can put you in touch with a volunteer from the charity.]
