Dignified Death Care

“No matter the subject, these days information exists on any topic everywhere. It is no different for dignified death care. There is a growing body of knowledge about funerals circulating in New Zealand, some very useful, sadly much of it ill-informed”, says Michael Powell, General Manager of Davis Funerals.  We find that this is causing problems for families more and more often. In this Country the funeral industry is completely de-regulated, meaning anyone at all can “operate” as a funeral director. Our advice, as experts in the industry, is to look for a funeral home that has the following three attributes.  

• They belong to the Funeral Director’s Association of New Zealand, providing you with confidence they are held to account by an independent regulator, adhere to an ethical code of practice and are regularly audited against a set of operating requirements.  

• It’s also important is to understand the level of knowledge and skill. This is particularly important where there may be mixed-race family considerations, specific cultural or religious rituals that need to be honoured as well as ensuring all those close to the deceased are properly guided through their individual grief journeys. One easy way to ensure such knowledge exists is to look at each funeral home’s commitment to training and service excellence through the number of registered and qualified  funeral directors they employ. You only get to farewell a loved one once. Recent media coverage of incidents in Auckland and the Waikato highlight both the irreparable emotional damage and risks of making the wrong decision.  

• Finally, work with a company that provides end to end funeral care. This ensures that from the very first call you make to them, the transferring of the deceased, mortuary care, funeral planning and organisation of grief counselling and support is under the care of the same team of people, from the same company in the same facilities.