What is Final Conversations

Death is a fact of life. Ultimately, everyone will eventually have to face the prospect of their own death or the (forthcoming) death of someone close to them. Therefore, it is important to understand the communication scripts used by families and close friends to talk about death and dying. Talking about death can be difficult for all of those involved. Many people will rely on religious messages; however, for a major section of the population in the United States who are not religious, those messages are both ineffective and inappropriate. The chapter explores the grief communication of non-religious people as they navigated terminal diagnoses and the sudden death of a loved one. Participants were interviewed about the challenges they faced while dealing with messages about death and dying.