Funeral Home and Cemetery Visit Essay PDF

Preview

Summary

The funeral home and cemetery visit essay...

Description

When partaking in the funeral home virtual tour, it is evident that there is much more to burial than originally meets the eye. When first discussing funeral practices it is evident that they have a direct impact on the local and global communities. With many different cultures comes many ways in which the dead are treated, and these cultural differences bring about various ways in which the environment is impacted. For example, someone being cremated and placed into a niche of a mausoleum, as commonly seen in Christianity, will have a different impact on the environment than the Islamic way of burial where the vaults are typically bottomless as this allows the deceased to decompose completely into the earth, as is customary in the religion. This is very similar to the Jewish customs of burial where a wooden casket is used to allow for deterioration over time. When looking at burial customs among African Americans, the belongings of loved ones are often left above ground at the grave site (Heath, 2016). Each culture and religion have its own customs that are followed when someone passes away, but each afterdeath action comes with its own environmental impacts. Whether its embalming chemicals leaking into the groundwater and transporting emissions, the amount of wood being used for all the caskets that are buried which aids in deforestation, or the amount of space that is taken up by burial sites and what is upon them which contributes to pollution and overcrowding, burial has vast downfalls in the environment. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, 827,000 gallons of formaldehyde-based embalming fluid is leaked into our soil and waterways every year (Safe Passage Urns, 2016). On the other end of the spectrum, while many see cremation as an alternative that doesn’t hurt the environment, there are still gases that are released into the air so some people have turned to green cremation and green burials to avoid the use of chemicals and lessen the harsh environmental hazards procured by common practices.

Something pertinent that I learned about the funeral home industry is that they hold a key role in making sure that cultural customs are followed. For example, the virtual tour talked about Islamic burials and stated that granite spaces and markers are put in place to prevent people from walking over the burial site, which is considered disrespectful in the religion. During the funeral process, the families and friends of the deceased will carry out the customs of the religion, but it is the duration of responsibility of the funeral home to put regulations in place that allow those religious guidelines to be maintained. Additionally, funeral home sales are highly regulated regarding their marketing and sales tactics. Consumers are not required to purchase everything and are entitled to an itemized product summary that explicitly shows them what they are purchasing, which items/services were required, and how much each cost (FuneralWise.com, 2017). To put it more simply, whether someone is purchasing their funeral accommodations in advance or a loved one is doing so after their passing, they are not required to purchase a package they don’t need. I feel as though my knowledge of the funeral home industry will have a positive impact on my civic life and future career as a Physician’s Assistant. I always am striving to better the quality of life for the people in my community and one way to do that is through bringing awareness to the issues of the funeral industry, how to follow the proper guidelines and regulations, and surrounding discrepancies. As I will discuss throughout the remainder of this essay, there are several problem areas in the funeral industry, and I feel that people are taken advantage of. Being a center of influence for people of all ages and in all different stages of life allows me an opportunity to use this knowledge for the better and be a resource to patients who are looking to prepay their funeral or family members who oversee the planning after death.

While there are plenty of government regulations in place regarding funeral homes, it is evident that there are still some problem areas within the industry. Yes, the government tries to regulate prices, but the costs of funerals and burial/cremation are so immense leading to many people having issues affording it. Whether it is a prepaid funeral plan, or a post-death funeral being purchased by friends or family, the price is continually going up. There are rules and regulations in place in regard to not being forced into buying products that aren’t wanted or needed, but there is still a prominence of unethical product sales and funeral homes pitching high -priced caskets and not making the consumer aware of the rule that actually allows them to purchase a casket or other products from a third party to be used at the funeral home (FTC.gov, 2018). You wouldn’t initially expect that a funeral home would use something like death to gain a larger profit, but research and patterns have shown otherwise. With that in mind, if I was a funeral home director, I would focus on doing a needs analysis for each consumer. I understand that it is a business, but it is a business that exists due to something as traumatizing and impactful as death. Therefore, your services you offer should not be simply to upsell and make as much as you can, but to fit what the people truly need. I would require every one of my sales reps to fill out a worksheet with each consumer so we can truly identify their need, understand their budget and their financial situation, learn about their cultural/religious preferences, and propose a plan that is perfectly catered to them. This would help eliminate one of the largest ethical pitfalls of the funeral industry: the sales of unnecessary products as well as high-pressure situations where the consumer is put under the gun and ends up spending more than they want to and/or can.

References

Environmental Impact of Burial Funerals, What Funeral Homes Don't Want You To Know. Safe Passage Urns. (2016). https://safepassageurns.com/blogs/blog/environmental-impact-ofburial-funerals.

FTC Funeral Rule and Your Rights as a Consumer. Funeralwise. (2017, October 6). https://www.funeralwise.com/learn/industry/regulations/.

The FTC Funeral Rule. Consumer Information. (2018, March 13). https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0300-ftc-funeral-rule.

Heath, N. (2016, April 12). Funeral customs around the world. Topics. https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/culture/explainer/funeral-customs-around-world....