Virtual Death Cafe Iowa
A write up of Virtual Death Cafe Iowa
We had a virtual Death Café meeting on November 21, 2023 via Zoom. Buffy Peters from Hamilton’s Academy of Grief & Loss was our facilitator. There were a total of five people who joined Buffy online.
During our time, we discussed the importance of finding people who are comfortable talking about death and dying, which Death Café is a comfort zone. It was mentioned that providers having comfort during conversations about death and dying can be valuable for patients and a great resource. Listening is so important while talking to someone about death & dying. We spent time discussing different words used to talk about death, dying, and how language matters. Language is and should be used professionally and personally, even if we make a mistake with our words. This led to a brief discussion about respecting boundaries of others and also having boundaries. If a word is used and it bothers someone, continuing support for that person should occur. Before ending for the night, we discussed whether or not people think about their own death. We shouldn’t want to leave death out of our lives because we can’t fix it. One quote that stood out from this Death Café “everyone has a journey with death, keep exploring”.