Developing practical ethics of care for the dead and bereaved: learning from the ways COVID-19 disrupted and reshaped funeral provision

当COVID-19感染控制政策限制了如何以及由谁来照顾尸体并将其转移到埋葬/火葬场时，英国的葬礼服务受到了严重干扰;葬礼承办人和庆祝者如何与死者家属沟通;以及葬礼、哀悼和纪念活动聚集的可能性。这些规定造成了巨大的痛苦和不公正的感觉。他们还促进了新的丧葬习俗的发展--引发了有关丧葬规定的重要问题。我们的跨学科研究始于对殡葬服务的认识，作为一种照顾形式（和一套照顾做法），面向已经死亡的人及其丧亲之痛的家人，朋友和社区。它解决了殡葬服务中被忽视的道德问题，包括在2019冠状病毒病的背景下，家庭成员和殡仪馆馆长担心没有履行重要责任或对死者或失去亲人的人做错事，从而导致的公平问题和痛苦的道德层面。我们的伦理分析将基于对改变的做法和经验的民族志检查，包括：（1）对葬礼文物的分析，包括在线电影，致敬页面和书面记录;（2）对不同的丧亲家庭成员，葬礼承办人和庆祝者的采访。我们将仔细关注人们认为什么是好的和正确的（或不），以及为什么在不同的情况下。我们将开发实用的道德分析，解决葬礼的不同目的和死后责任的不同观点之间的紧张关系。与主要利益攸关方的讨论活动将为今后的政策和做法提供资源。

Funeral provision in the UK was significantly disrupted when COVID-19 infection control policies constrained how and by whom bodies could be attended to and moved to burial/cremation sites; how funeral directors and celebrants could communicate with bereaved families; and possibilities for gathering for funerals, mourning and memorialising activities. The regulations generated significant distress and perceptions of injustice. They also prompted the development of new funeral practices - inviting important questions about funeral provision. Our interdisciplinary research starts from a recognition of funeral provision as a form of care (and set of caring practices) oriented towards people who have died and their bereaved family, friends and communities. It addresses neglected ethical aspects of funeral provision, including, in the context of COVID-19, questions of fairness and the moral dimensions of distress evident in family members' and funeral directors' worries about not fulfilling important responsibilities, or doing wrong, to those who have died or been bereaved. Our ethical analyses will be grounded in an ethnographic examination of changed practices and experiences that includes:(1) analysis of funeral artefacts, including online films, tribute pages, and written accounts; (2) interviews with diverse bereaved family members, funeral directors and celebrants. We will attend carefully to what people consider good and right (or not) and why in different circumstances. We will develop practical ethical analyses of post-death care that address tensions between different purposes of funerals and diverse perspectives on post-death responsibilities. Discussion events with key stakeholders will inform the development of resources for future policy and practice.