How feasible is caring for the deceased at home in the UK, and to what extent does this help bereaved families?

这项研究将探索在家中照顾死者遗体的好处和挑战，以及这在多大程度上有助于(或阻碍)失去亲人的个人、家庭和社区接受死亡和他们的悲痛经历。该项目扩展了巴斯大学死亡与社会中心成员的工作，包括关于老年在家死亡的工作，该项目试图为自然死亡运动和“死亡积极”运动的社会政治发展做出贡献，这两个运动正在重新想象英国各地死亡和死亡的方方面面。这项研究可能会让社会更好地理解在家中照顾逝者的问题，从而导致态度、社会、文化或政策的改变，并改善遭受丧亲之痛的人的经历。该项目源于人们在去世后在家中照顾甚至定位的减少。直到150年前，在维多利亚时代的医院、停尸房和现代殡仪馆出现之前，人们在家中死去，遗体一直留在那里直到下葬，这是司空见惯的。现在，大多数人死在一个机构(医院、疗养院或临终关怀院)，而对于那些确实在家里去世的人，绝大多数人在火化或埋葬之前被转移到停尸房冷藏。对于在死者去世后在家中照顾他们，或在他们死后在机构中让他们回家可能产生的潜在好处，人们知之甚少。先前的研究发现，观察(或抱着)死婴可以改善母亲的幸福感(Raestad等人，2009)，可以说，与失去亲人的人呆在一起的好处类似于与已故的成年人在一起。一个完整的证据表明，与死者在一起的时间让人们了解死亡的现实和结局。这个项目的关键研究问题将包括：1.在家里照顾死者有多可行，这对失去亲人的家庭有多大帮助？2.在死亡影响后与身体在一起的时间在多大程度上会让个人对自己的死亡或失去亲人的经历产生看法？3.从成本、医疗保健/临终关怀、工作人员合作、关于临终关怀的国家/地方政策？该项目将采用半结构化访谈方式进行，重点是在家中照顾已故家庭成员的丧亲家庭的经历，并将利用专题分析进行分析。此外，还将向参与遗体护理的专业人员发放一份全面的问卷，收集有关在家中照料遗体的意识(和任何相关政策)、他们愿意帮助促进这一做法、任何可察觉到的障碍以及他们是否在实践中经历过的信息。

The study will explore the benefits and challenges of caring for a deceased person's body at home, and the extent to which this helps (or hinders) bereaved individuals, families and communities in coming to terms with the death and their grief experience. Extending work undertaken by members of the University of Bath's Centre for Death and Society, including work on dying at home in old age, the project seeks to contribute to the socio-political development of the natural death movement and 'death positive' movement that are reimagining all aspects of death and dying across the UK. The study has the potential to lead to better societal understanding of caring for the deceased at home leading to attitudinal, social, cultural or policy changes, and improved experiences for people who have suffered a bereavement.The project stems from the decline in caring for, or even locating, people in their homes after they have died. Until 150 years ago, before the advent of Victorian hospitals, mortuaries and the modern day funeral director, it was commonplace for people to die at home and for their body to remain there until the day of its burial. Now, most people die in an institution (either a hospital, care home or hospice), and for those that do die at home the vast majority are transferred to a mortuary facility for cold storage before their cremation or burial. Very little is known about the potential benefit that may be derived from caring for the deceased at home after they have died, or having them 'return home after their death in an institution. Previous research has found that viewing (and potentially holding) a stillborn baby can improve the wellbeing of the mother (Radestad et al, 2009) arguably similar benefits to the bereaved could be found in spending time with a deceased adult. Anectotal evidence points to spending time with the deceased allowing the reality and finality of the death to sink in.Key research questions in this project will include:1. How feasible is caring for the deceased at home, and to what extent does this help bereaved families?2. To what extent does spending time with the body after a death effect bereaved individuals' perception of their own mortality or their experience of bereavement?3. What is the feasibility of caring for bodies at home in terms of costs, healthcare/deathcare, staff cooperation, and national/local policy on end of life care?The project will be conducted using semi-structured interviews focusing on the experiences of bereaved families who have cared for a deceased family member at home and will be analysed using thematic analysis. The interviews will be complemented by a comprehensive questionnaire to professionals involved in the care of the body after death which will gather information on awareness of the practice of caring for the body at home (and any relevant policy), their willingness to help facilitate it, any perceived barriers and whether they have experienced it in practice.