IOBM
Assessment of Funeral Workers’ Practices in Karachi Against International Safety Precautions
Research Synopsis
By: Ambreen Alwani
Institute of Business Management
MBA in Health Management
Supervised by:
Dr. Naveed Yousuf
Introduction
1. Background
A mortuary is a place where human dead bodies are retained for preservation and safety till the burial. Cremation is completed from a mortuary or a funeral house. These mortuaries and funeral houses are present in hospitals, private clinics, any volunteer charity homes or such service provider facilities (Afele, 2014). In these facilities, human corpses are preserved by funeral workers who manage cold-storage via deep-freeze facilities so that bodies can be retained for some time before funeral takes place. Funeral worker performs a sacred task and are prepared to accept its consequences in return. Funeral homes workers are in the uncommon and vague position of being honored for the work that they do even as feeling rejected by the society to whom they provide such services. (Garden, 2001)
With so much patience and compassion with their work, mortuary and funeral workers deals with dead human bodies that comes with many hazardous conditions including infections such as Hepatitis B, HIV and other viral and/or bacterial infections (Morgan, 2004). These workers are more prone to infectious diseases when proper safety precautions are not taken into consideration. These precautions should be a part of regular practices or code of conduct for these workers to avoid such health issues. Therefore, it is very important for every funeral house to design and implement standards operating procedures (SOPs) for their workers for not only providing quality services to their customers ...
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...ch practices of funeral workers will be assessed against pre-defined guidelines for funeral workers from different international sources such as Hong Kong National guidelines for dead body handling, WHO guideline chapter on mortuary practices and Code of conduct for funeral workers UK. (See Appendix 2)
(i) Data Analysis Procedure:
The current practices of funeral workers will be assessed against the international guidelines, and reported accordingly.
(j) Ethical Aspects
For ethical issue, informed consent form will be taken from all participants. Their information will be kept confidential and anonymous. The consent form will also include description of the study, its purpose, and permission to withdraw from the study at any point of time, information about the researcher, and their signatures on that form. The survey will be on voluntary participation.
The article was an enjoyment to read. It provides an insider's view of what goes on in the mortuary, where not many people can access. It deals with a subject which people do not usually seek information on but are nonetheless intrigued by. The style lessens the formality of the subject, which makes it less scary to deal with. The descriptive language is effectively used. The expression of the author's feeling and thoughts encourages empathy from the reader with the author.
In the past four decades the cost of a funeral service has risen 1,328% (Boring) and that’s not just because Morticians wanted to out of pure greed. One must take into account that modern mortuaries are much more of a business than before. Prior to 1970, the majority of funeral homes were were independent, family run. Today about 14% of funeral homes are run by a publicly traded corporation (Boring) meaning there’s a plethora of capital involved in these businesses now. The homes are built better and by professionals rather than by individuals with some tools, the home’s are extremely more sanitary since there’s more than likely no one living in these funeral homes unlike before, and the quality of the products these services are providing is greater than before.
NASW Standards for Social Work Practice in Palliative and End of Life Care. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.socialworkers.org/practice/bereavement/standards/standards0504New.pdf.
"Taboos and Social Stigma - Rituals, Body, Life, History, Time, Person, Human, Traditional Views of Death Give Way to New Perceptions." Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. .
In qualitative studies, the researchers are unaware of the interview is likely to untwist. Therefore, informed consent is a must.
Imagine yourself as a mortician, certified as an embalmer, retort operator, funeral director, and a funeral cosmetologist. You get a call late at night, there’s been a terrible accident and someone has died. You arrive at the hospital and are directed to a small room where the body of the deceased is being held. There’s blood all over the sheets as the doctor and coronary assistant zip up the body bag and inform you the body was badly mangled in a car accident, which is going to make reconstructing the deceased very difficult. Your assistant puts the body on the stretcher and loads it into the hearse while you talk to the wife of the deceased man. She tells you they plan to have a funeral so you give her your card and a reassuring word before leaving the hospital and driving back to the funeral home. Now your job begins, not only will you have to reconstruct this man’s disfigured body, but you must meet with the family, discuss funeral arrangements, and deal with the family’s emotional trauma that comes with losing a loved one. Although working in the funeral business can be emotionally draining, it’s a satisfying feeling to see mourning families able to say goodbye to their loved ones. Despite the fact that working so closely with the deceased can be chilling, Mortuary science can be a thrilling field to work in.
In modern day America, we unknowingly take countless things for granted on a daily basis. For example, we blatantly assume that privileges such as clean hospital rooms, trash services, and preservation have always been provided. In reality, at the time of the civil war, medical and hygienic methods were primitive compared to today’s technology in medicine. A significant difference was the process after death. Modern day embalming was created, as an innovative way to preserve the bodies of fallen soldiers, but has developed into a customary practice that accompanies contemporary mortality.
For instance, in the Netherlands, they must follow strict guidelines to be considered for euthanasia. These guidelines include: The request for euthanasia must come from the patient and be completely voluntary, well considered, and persistent. The patient must have adequate information about his or her medical condition, the prognosis, and alternative treatments. There must be intolerable suffering with no prospect for improvement, although the patient need not be terminally ill. Other alternatives to alleviate the suffering must have been considered and found ineffective, unreasonable, and unacceptable to the patient. The euthanasia must be performed by a physician who has consulted an independent colleague. The physician must exercise due care, and there should be a written record of the case. And the death must not be reported to the medical examiner as a natural death. With guidelines like these, no one would be able to mistreat euthanasia or take advantage of
...ene & cleaning is important, making sure to wash hands thoroughly, cover any skin abrasions, and use the correct chemical agents and disinfectants. Appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) must be worn, including disposable gloves, a particular respirator, eye protection, overalls and rubber boots. Safe handling, transport, storage and disposal of clinical waste, sharps, contaminated clothing, pathology specimens and animal manure must be performed.
Funerals are very important ceremonies in Hindu tradition. Hindus see cremation as an act of sacrifice to God and...
These are just a few of the wide variety of funeral and death rites from around the world.
Even though the council on Ethical and judicial affairs of medicine has long standing policies going against the need for euthanasia. However, these policies do not address the issue of assisted suicide fully. This was not until there was a report on the issue in June 1991 regarding the "Decisions of near the End of Life." This report clearly illustrates that assisted physician suicide is not in the professional role of the physician. Therefore, the report concludes that the physicians should not participate in assisting the patients commit suicide. There before the council had given out a report rebuffing the use euthanasia. In this report the council had stated in June 1997 that euthanasia or mercy killings is not in line with the policies of the medical tradition. Additionally they said that it was not in line with the measure of human worth and value. Later on in 1988, the council also strongly reaffirmed its decision of not supporting euthanasia or mercy killing (Colbert, Schulte, & Adler, 2013).
Informed consent is a very serious decision a patient has to make when it comes to their health and consenting to procedures that are believed to cure or treat their current health status. It is important to address the effectiveness of the role a physician play in the informed consent process assuring that the patient has given truly informed consent and what safeguards can be put in place to assure the patient is exercising informed consent. Informed consent is based on the fact that the person consenting is a rational individual that is aware of the action to which he/she is consenting. Allen and McNamara (2011) notes that "On the standard understanding, the important elements of informed consent are the provision of information, the voluntariness of the choice and the competence of the chooser to make the choice— so the potential research participant should be provided with information relevant to the decision to participate, they should be able to choose freely about their participation and they should be competent to decide.
The subject of death and dying is a common occurrence in the health care field. There are many factors involved in the care of a dying patient and various phases the patient, loved ones and even the healthcare professional may go through. There are many controversies in health care related to death, however much of it roots from peoples’ attitudes towards it. Everyone handles death differently; each person has a right to their own opinions and coping mechanisms. Health care professionals are very important during death related situations; as they are a great source of support for a patient and their loved ones. It is essential that health care professionals give ethical, legal and honest care to their patients, regardless of the situation.
A funeral is an important event that should be planned with careful consideration, as each person only gets one to celebrate his or her life. People often die expectantly and suddenly leaving any funeral and burial arrangements in the hands of friends or relatives. These friends or family of the deceased may or may not have a good understanding of what the deceased would have preferred in his or her post death arrangements. A person planning his or her own funeral can prevent this guessing game and insure the arrangements are to their specifications.