Virginia L Seno of the Esse Institute here proposes three ways of addressing a person who is dying. Here they are in stark outline:
Press release issued this morning by Promessa UK and reproduced here word for word.
Regrettably Promessa UK has decided for several reasons to sever all ties with Promessa Organic AB (Sweden).
Promessa UK is not comfortable with the lack of progress in the development of Promession technology by Promessa Organic AB. In Promessa UK’s professional opinion and after a lengthy period of due diligence Promessa UK believes Promession is still at concept stage.
Promessa UK feels a responsibility to convey its position to all interested parties.
Promessa UK is wholly convinced that the natural composting of remains is the way to address the environmental, practical and sustainability issues posed by current burial methods.
A further statement will be issued in due course.
There’s a good TED talk here by Peter Saul.
Dr. Peter Saul is a Senior Intensive Care specialist in the adult and paediatric ICU at John Hunter Hospital, and Director of Intensive Care at Newcastle Private Hospital in Australia. After spending time as the Head of Discipline for Medical Ethics at Newcastle University, he is now a leading adviser to the State and Federal health departments.
Some notes and quotes from the talk:
“How we die lives on in the minds of everybody who survives us.”
Dying in intensive care is 7x more stressful than dying anywhere else.
1 in 10 of us will die in intensive care. In the US 1 in 5 and in Miami 3 in 5.
6 out of 10 of us will die of increasing frailty after a final year of acute disability.
“Increasing longevity means more old age, not more youth.”
The obstructive cultural issue: we don’t want to talk about it.
One small idea: let’s all of us have the conversation about how we want to die. The key question: “In the event that you become too sick to speak for yourself, who would you like to speak for you?”
The big idea: give people control over their dying; to”reclaim death from the medicalised model in which it’s going.”
Euthanasia is a sideshow.
“You matter because you are you, and you matter to the last moment of your life.” — Dame Cicely Saunders.