here is my most resent research paper. sorry about the format here, made some changes to get it on the blog. please let me know what you think.
DO IT YOURSELF HOME FUNERALS
The do it yourself home funerals are on the rise as seen on PBS and MSNBC, plus
many other articles written about it. The funeral service professional should take note of
this because home funerals are growing in popularity and are legal in all but five states.
What is a home funeral? Reminiscent of earlier times, the family bathes and dresses
the body (there is no embalming.) The casket is either purchased or built by the family.
They will conduct the visitation and funeral service themselves and will transport the
body to the cemetery or crematory. It should be noted that in these “earlier times”,
families did what they had to do because the services of a funeral home weren't always
available.
There are several reasons why families choose home funerals. Often, the family is
attempting to save money by doing all the work themselves instead of using the
services of a funeral home. They would be saving the cost of embalming, visitation,
funeral service, all transportation and the basic service charge of the funeral home.
building their own casket or purchasing one through a casket store could also be less
expensive. Because of negative reports by the media, some families are hesitant to
place their trust in any funeral establishment. When anything negative happens at any
funeral home, it makes the news. Often exaggerated, slanted, biased reports, they
place all funeral professionals in a negative light. Other families see the home funeral
as an opportunity to find closure through more personal involvement in the funeral
process.
Advocates of home funerals have failed to point out any of the negative aspects that
a family could encounter. Except that they aren't for everyone. While they give out false
and misleading information about funeral homes. Home funerals could be much more than some families could handle physically or emotionally. They have over simplified
what is involved between death and final disposition. For some, the entire
experience could end up being emotionally devastating. Washing, dressing and
cosmetizing the body could prove to be quite unpleasant if there were seeping wounds,
bed sores, feeding tubes and any number of things that could promote leaking and
odors. Few families would know how to treat these conditions which is potentially a
threat to the health of everyone coming in contact with the body. Filing a death
certificate, notification of the death to the social security administration, filing a report of
death, writing an obituary and getting it to the newspapers and notifying any insurance
companies, obtaining the forms and filing claims are also time consuming endeavors
that could prove to be very frustrating for someone not experiences in these areas.
Building a casket is time consuming labor and not everyone has the skills to accomplish
the task. Shopping for a casket can also be time consuming for an already exhausted
family since few families have a casket store in their neighborhood. Then there is the
matter of transporting it home and hopefully, being able to get it inside. (we often
encounter houses, apartments and mobile homes with door and halls so narrow that it is
difficult to get a cot through them.) Home funeral advocates who suggest that the family
conclude the funeral by taking the body to the cemetery or crematory. It isn't that simple.
Arrangements must be made in advance for either method of disposition; and each has
it's own documentation and permit requirements. If final disposition is burial, someone
in the family must contact the cemetery, mark the grave, arrange for someone to open
and close the grave. Family members may open and close the grave themselves if the
cemetery doesn't object. This can take a whole crew the better part of a day if they're
using shovels. If a grave liner or vault is required, someone in the family must be
responsible for purchasing one and getting it delivered to the cemetery at the
appropriate time.
Without the benefit of a funeral service professional, the family most likely will be
overwhelmed with tasks and too busy from the time of death until the final disposition to
have any closure.
The one who really benefits is the funeral consultant. Charging a fee of about
$2,000.00 The family does all the work. I was unable to find any regulations controlling
funeral consultants. So if you add up the cost of a casket, vault, and all cemetery
expenses plus the funeral consultants fee. The home funeral might not be a bargain
after all. The familywould have been much better advised to use the services of a
funeral home, allow theprofessionals to handle the details. Without the benefit of a
funeral service professional, the family most likely will be overwhelmed with tasks and
too busy from the time of death until the final disposition to have any closure. The family
can then better spend their time being supportive of each other and allowing friends and
neighbors to comfort, support and minister to them.
As funeral service professionals who worked hard to become licensed and who must
work equally hard to protect that license, we should push for state regulation of the home
funeral consultant. They should be required to have funeral service training and be
licensed. That way they would be accountable for their actions and advise so the
families would have a recourse when things go wrong with the home funeral.
We would be helping ourselves by adding the home funeral as another option offered
through the funeral home. For the families who want the additional hands on
involvement, we could make that available and still handle all the “details” such as
dealing with the county, state, doctors, insurance companies, and the Veterans
Administration and military casualty offices, casket companies, vault companies,
cemetery associations, grave service personnel, newspapers and florist. Included at no
extra charge to the family, We consult and advise while we do the work. The home
funeral consultant charges to consult and advise while the family does the work.
It's very likely that, most families wouldn't want to attempt a home funeral. However,
if we offer the best of both world, the advantages and benefits of a home funeral without
the headaches, our families would welcome such an option. Along with the growing
option of green funerals.
Finally as Funeral directors we need to maintain a high level of ethics, and make sure
that others in the industry do the same. We don’t need the negative press caused by a
few bad funeral directors making us all look bad, and giving the home funeral advocates
fuel for their fires. Many people are tired of the cold business like feel of corporate
owned funeral home. The corporate owned funeral homes need to make it feel like a
family run business. Make your customers feel like part of the family. Remember they
are called Funeral Homes now, not funeral parlors, Make it feel like a home, make your
clients feel like guests and not just dollar signs.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20845739/
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2004/afamilyundertaking/resources_03.html
http://www.npr.org/programs/death/971208.death.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060401667.h tml
http://gravematters.netfirms.com/homefuneral.htm
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/10.26.05/funerals-0543.html
http://idahomefunerals.com/services/burial.htm
http://www.finalpassages.org/
http://www.funeralwire.com/article.php?id=19984
http://www.funeralwire.com/article.php?id=11764
http://www.funeralwire.com/article.php?id=11064
http://www.funeralwire.com/article.php?id=10812
http://www.funeralwire.com/article.php?id=10341
http://www.here-now.org/shows/2004/08/20040803_18.asp
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-05-10-home-funerals_x.htm
