Coronavirus

What has collective grief taught Harriet Price?

Woollahra councillor Harriet Price answers the question "what has grief taught you?"

This article was updated on 7 March, 2023. It discusses collective grief and Covid-19. One of the good things to come out of the collective grief from the Covid-19 crisis is the realisation of the value of our local community. Yes it’s marvellous that before this, because of technology, we … Read more

Burials Without Hugs – Our 2020 Moment

The Covid-19 crisis had its biggest consequences for these two most important rituals, the wedding and the funeral. “During the service I never pose people or use flash photography. Discrete candid photography allows me to capture the sombre mode of family embracing, children deep in thought, and friends crofting the … Read more

Work and end-of-life care – online for post-Covid times

Work has gone online – even, surprisingly, in the healthcare space. We’ve discovered more about what’s effective and what isn’t as lawyers, school teachers and sales people have developed new online practices. However, at times this can feel like two steps forward, one step back. Some Sydney lawyers report that … Read more

Where will Covid-19 take us next?

This is a review of where we are now, the gains and losses in managing the threat of death from Covid-19. What has changed, what has gone backwards, what has improved? Not all the threats to life will come from the virus itself, a space that health professionals are now … Read more

To live or not to live – Covid-19 and the elderly

As Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced an ‘early mark’ for Australians on social distancing restrictions from Saturday 2 May, 2020, because of our success in controlling Covid-19, the spotlight stays on the continuing sources of outbreaks – including aged care facilities. Scrutiny will ensure we don’t have a sudden … Read more

Psychiatrist Dr Michelle Atchison’s thoughts on grief and isolation

Dr Michelle Atchison agrees with Matthew that, as Covid-19 imposes isolation on the grieving, it is an important time for professionals in the grief area to reach out to their patients. She is the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Chair of Private Practice, and also works in … Read more

Lessons from World War I

CEO of the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement, Chris Hall, shares some thoughts on the lessons we can learn from the first war of the twentieth century. Covid-19 will change our sense of self. Some of the clues to how this will happen come from looking at World War … Read more

Don’t feel hopeless – even if you are old.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles can teach us things now.

Here’s some good news. Getting sick with COVID-19 isn’t necessarily a death sentence – even if you’re old.  Norman Swan in his coronavirus update on March 23 finished his report by saying that 85 per cent of old people who get COVID-19 will survive. That’s something for the elderly to … Read more

Covid-19 update – a world view.

In the neighbourhood this morning

To see an update of the world pattern of Coronavirus spread, see the following link. As the impact on the world of the Covid-19 tide unfolds, if you are wondering about the worldwide palliative care response, please go to this link. https://www.thewhpca.org/covid-19/resources. Triaging of scarce medical resources tends to happen … Read more

Covid-19 update from Good Grief!

We live in strange times. So the latest issue of my newsletter [sign up here!] is dedicated to COVID-19 and related mortality. It may seem morbid, but before you shut your device, think of this. It is extremely reassuring to look at this international crisis through the lens of mortality. … Read more