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Caregiving

In its most general meaning, caregiving is the providing of what is needed. Caregiving is used both as a noun and as a verb. As a noun, it refers to the organization of health care. As a verb, caregiving refers to both “taking care of,” which means that one's specific needs are met, and “taking care for,” which means that needs are met with feeling, motivation, and engagement. Caregiving is relevant for the issue of dying because it helps people to die in peace and with dignity. Since engagement is believed to be the heart of caregiving, care for the dying is particularly characterized by the care for the emotional impact that imminent death has on the one who dies. Various ideals of care for the emotional impact of death have affected the practices of care for the dying. To explore the ideals of care for the emotional impact of death, a sketch of its ideological development is presented. From there, three main issues in contemporary care for the emotional impact of death are explored.

Ideals of Care for the Emotional Impact of Death

Consolation for Mortality

In ancient Greece, the ideal of care for the emotional impact of death is particularly reflected in the consolation literature. The main aim of this literature is to achieve inner-world happiness in spite of one's mortality. Consolation is provided through a reflected meditation on the place of death in the cosmic order, the immortality of the soul, and the intangibleness of death itself. For example, arguments are presented about the limited meaning of death, about the fact that we all share in our mortal human condition, and about the pointlessness of grieving, for it doesn't help us any further. Care for the emotional impact of death is thus mainly directed at a consolation for human mortality.

The consolation ideal of care for the emotional impact of death is mainly found in Stoicism and (neo)-Platonism. Both movements believed that a virtuous directedness of the soul, in combination with a renunciation of one's attachment to life, console for one's mortality. Although many texts in Greek philosophy provide consolation, Krantor of Solio (ca. 330–268 B.C.E.), Cicero (106–43 B.C.E.), Seneca (4 BC–65 C.E.), and Plutarch (ca. 46–120 C.E.) are the most important representatives of this genre. At the basis of the consolation literature lies the conviction that feelings should be guided by reason. The ideal of this care for the emotional impact of death is to diminish and control one's grief rather than to suppress one's emotions.

Preparation for Afterlife

During the Middle Ages, the consolation ideal for the emotional impact of death is complemented by the Christian value of suffering. Through the resurrection of Christ, death is no longer the end of everything but becomes the step to a transcendent reality. Suffering is no longer accepted just because of its place in the order of things, but also for its purifying effect on humans' sinfulness. Besides heaven and hell as possible places for the afterlife, interest is increasingly paid to purgatory where the soul awaits its final judgment. The church teaches the remission of sins through praying, penance, and indulgences. The ideal of care for the emotional impact of death thus becomes directed at the preparation for the afterlife before God's final judgment.

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