Visitors at the End of Life: Finding Meaning and Purpose in Near-Death Phenomena

Description: Visitors at the End of Life by Allan Kellehear This book is about how, when, and why our dead visit us. Allan Kellehear—a medical sociologist and expert on death, dying, and palliative care—has gathered data and conducted studies on deathbed visions across cultures. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description About 30 percent of hospice patients report a "visitation" by someone who is not there, a phenomenon known in end-of-life care as a deathbed vision. These visions can be of dead friends or family members and occur on average three days before death. Strikingly, individuals from wildly diverse geographic regions and religions-from New York to Japan to Moldova to Papua New Guinea-report similar visions. Appearances of our dead during serious illness, crises, or bereavement are as old as the historical record. But in recent years, we have tended to explain them in either the fantastical terms of the supernatural or the reductive terms of neuroscience.This book is about how, when, and why our dead visit us. Allan Kellehear-a medical sociologist and expert on death, dying, and palliative care-has gathered data and conducted studies on these experiences across cultures. He also draws on the long-neglected work of early anthropologists who developed cultural explanations about why the dead visit. Deathbed visions conform to the rituals that underpin basic social relations and expectations-customs of greeting, support, exchange, gift-giving, and vigils-because the dead must communicate with us in a social language that we recognize. Kellehear emphasizes the personal consequences for those who encounter these visions, revealing their significance for how the dying person makes meaning of their experiences. Providing vital understanding of a widespread yet mysterious phenomenon, Visitors at the End of Life offers insights for palliative care professionals, researchers, and the bereaved. Author Biography Allan Kellehear is 50th Anniversary Professor of End of Life Care at the University of Bradford. His books include A Social History of Dying (2007) and The Inner Life of the Dying Person (Columbia, 2014). Table of Contents PrefacePart I. Conflict and Context1. Visitors Near Death: Are They "Real"?2. Hallucinations3. PerceptionPart II. Patterns of Custom and Solicitation4. Greetings and Other Customs5. Advice6. Transformation7. GiftsPart III. A Pattern Directing the Patterns8. VigilsConclusionAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex Review A respectful examination of visitations from the dead on a deathbed and in bereavement, Kellehear adds to an emerging body of work that is of great interest. Visitors at the End of Life does an excellent job addressing this topic with an objective and serious tone. -- Kenneth J. Doka, coauthor of Death and Dying, Life and Living, eighth edition, and senior consultant, Hospice Foundation of AmericaEstablishing quickly that near-death experiences, deathbed visions, and visions of the bereaved are commonplace, Kellehear examines how these experiences exemplify established principles of social interaction and addresses perhaps a crucial question: What can these experiences offer to the dying, their family and friends, and humanity at large? A must-read for anyone with a personal or professional interest in the human dying and bereavement processes. -- Janice Miner Holden, editor of the Journal of Near-Death StudiesJust what is the social logic behind human experiences of our dead? This renowned death-studies scholar challenges us to create an intellectual space to question simplistic answers by reframing our approach to the enigmas of experience encountered by millions across diverse world cultures. -- Douglas Davies, Durham UniversityIn Visitors at the End of Life, Allan Kellehear moves beyond whether visits from dead are real or imagined and probes the deeper question of what they mean. Illustrating with copious accounts of visitations, Kellehear makes them as understandable as any other social encounter. Visitors at the End of Life contains much wisdom and much comfort for the bereaved. -- Bruce Greyson, University of VirginiaHis description of key anthropological accounts will help interested readers frame these phenomena seriously so that they can be better illuminated and understood...Recommended. * Choice * Review Quote Just what is the social logic behind human experiences of our dead? This renowned death-studies scholar challenges us to create an intellectual space to question simplistic answers by reframing our approach to the enigmas of experience encountered by millions across diverse world cultures. Details ISBN0231182155 Author Allan Kellehear Publisher Columbia University Press Year 2020 ISBN-10 0231182155 ISBN-13 9780231182157 Format Paperback Imprint Columbia University Press Subtitle Finding Meaning and Purpose in Near-Death Phenomena Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Affiliation Middlesex University Position Professor of Community Health DEWEY 133.9 Pages 216 Short Title Visitors at the End of Life Language English Publication Date 2020-07-28 UK Release Date 2020-07-28 NZ Release Date 2020-07-28 US Release Date 2020-07-28 Illustrations No figures Audience Professional & Vocational AU Release Date 2020-07-27 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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