Loss is a normal part of life, and grief is the normal human response to loss. For the dying person, to die peacefully and to die with the knowledge that life has had meaning is important (Olsen & Keegan, 2013). Healthcare professionals can assist dying individuals and their families by incorporating physiological, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects of dying into the care provided. A "healthy death" is the goal. A healthy death has been defined as a death that has positive benefits for the dying person and the dying person’s family, caregivers, and friends. Healthcare professionals can act as guides to help the dying person and his or her family members through this final life transition (Hancock, 2015).
THE GRIEVING PROCESS
Loss is a natural part of aging and life. According to Meiner (2014), transitional losses often associated with aging include retirement, moving from a lifelong home to a smaller home or senior living facility, changes in activity level, and moving from health to illness, from marriage to widowhood, and from extensive social networks to smaller circles of friends and relatives.
These losses are often viewed negatively by society, and successful aging requires coping with them. Death and dying are additional losses that accompany aging and they are often taboo subjects as well. However, life transitions such as death and dying can be a catalyst for great personal and spiritual growth if they are successfully managed.
Each person experiences grief differently, depending on his or her inner resources, support, and relationships (Doka, 2016; Olsen & Keegan, 2013). According to Feinstein and Mayo (1990), grief work has three characteristics:
- It furthers the healthy grieving process by encouraging ventilation, planning, and insight.
- It does not exploit others. The mourner has a healing team that provides comfort.
- Appropriate grief work cannot be rushed. It takes time to accept that death has occurred and to work through feelings. The individual who goes through the grief process may experience a sort of transformation from profound sadness to a sense of comfort.