Journal Article

Report of the Lancet Commission on the Value of Death: bringing death back into life

Doble, Brett, Sleeman, Katherine E, Kellehear, Allan, Kitzinger, Celia, Wyatt, Katrina, Chamberlain, Charlotte, Ahmedzai, Sam H, Sallnow, Libby, Durie, Robin, Finkelstein, Eric A, O'Mahony, Seamus, Russell, Sarah, Sase, Eriko, Taylor, Ros, Murray, Scott A, Solomon, Sheldon, Cong, Yali, Husebø, Bettina S, Rajagopal, M R, Smith, Richard, Hodson, Melanie, Tutu van Furth, Mpho, Knaul, Felicia Marie, Dullie, Luckson, Guglani, Sam, Neuberger, Julia, Bhadelia, Afsan

2022

Overview

Climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental destruction, and attitudes to death in high-income countries have similar roots—our delusion that we are in control of, and not part of, nature. Palliative care can provide better outcomes for patients and carers at the end of life, leading to improved quality of life, often at a lower cost, but attempts to influence mainstream health-care services have had limited success and palliative care broadly remains a service-based response to this social concern. Income, education, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other factors influence how much people suffer in death systems and the capacity they possess to change them. The five principles are: the social determinants of death, dying, and grieving are tackled; dying is understood to be a relational and spiritual process rather than simply a physiological event; networks of care lead support for people dying, caring, and grieving; conversations and stories about everyday death, dying, and grief become common; and death is recognised as having value. The five principles are: the social determinants of death, dying, and grieving are tackled; dying is understood to be a relational and spiritual process rather than simply a physiological event; networks of care lead support for people dying, caring, and grieving; conversations and stories about everyday death, dying, and grief become common; and death is recognised as having value.

• Publisher: Elsevier Ltd,Elsevier Limited
• Subject: 21st century / Climate change / Coronaviruses / COVID-19 / Culture / Death / Death & dying / End of life / Environmental degradation / Expenditures / Grief / Health care / High income / Income / Life / Mortality / Pain / Palliative care / Pandemics / Philosophers / Physiology / Quality of life / Sexual behavior / Society / The Lancet Commissions