Religion and Touch - Christina Welch

Religion and Touch - Christina Welch

7. Death Doulas and Coffin Clubs: Exploring Touch and the End of Life

Religion and Touch - Christina Welch

Suzi Garrod [+-]
Next Steps for Living, Dying, Grieving
Suzi Garrod is a holistic health practitioner and trainer whose work includes supporting people who are experiencing life-limiting illness, bereavement, grief and loss. Trained as a Death Doula, she also has an MA in Death, Religion and Culture and co-authored a chapter on religion and the sense of touch in relation to her death doula work, for the Religion and Touch edited book (Welch and Whitehead, 2021).
Bronwyn Russell [+-]
Masters student
Bronwyn Russell has worked as a physiotherapist for nine years, four of which she spent travelling the globe. She has worked with as a physiotherapist in Australia, England, Scotland, India and Nepal (and a few other places in between). Her jobs have included working with children with disabilities, with people recovering from amputations, burns, and reconstructive surgery, chronic pain management, and musculoskeletal physiotherapy. She is now back in her home country of New Zealand. A few years ago, Bronwyn decided to return to study. A friend suggested social anthropology, and Bronwyn has never looked back. She is currently finishing a thesis towards her Masters, which explores Coffin Clubs in New Zealand.

Description

Touch is a powerful sensory way through which to communicate presence, emotion, comfort and support, particularly at end of life, yet many of us have forgotten this most fundamental form of human communication. In Western societies especially, the decline in cultural tradition and religious ritual at end of life, augmented by social and medical narratives that focus on death avoidance and the institutionalisation of the sick and elderly, have led to a loss of meaningful connection with death. Talking about it has become taboo, being around, let alone touching, the dying, has become frightening, avoidance and denial of death, dying and grief have become the norm. As a result, both the dying and their caregivers often feel isolated and invisible when faced with their own mortality, experiencing fear, impotence and hopelessness rather than understanding, acceptance or support. This paper examines, through the personal accounts of practitioners, two ways in which these issues are beginning to be addressed, particularly in terms of touch and its place at end of life. Firstly, it explores the work of a Death Doula in England who offers spiritual, emotional and practical support to the dying and their families, by providing and teaching therapeutic touch. Secondly, it examines the growing phenomenon of the Coffin Club movement and asserts that touch, through the group crafting of personalised coffins, encourages a deeper exploration and acceptance of death and loss. Both authors draw on their experiences within each approach, emphasising the significance of touch at end of life using ethnographic accounts or clinical case studies, and referencing scholarly, religious and ethical perspectives where relevant.

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Citation

Garrod, Suzi; Russell, Bronwyn. 7. Death Doulas and Coffin Clubs: Exploring Touch and the End of Life. Religion and Touch. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 154-174 Sep 2021. ISBN 9781800500334. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=42175. Date accessed: 13 Dec 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.42175. Sep 2021

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