Free Future of Funeral Directors Essay Sample
Currently, more than ever, funeral director's role is facing constant evolution in line with changing cultural and social practices of the past decades. Looking back, the profession has come from far, back in the late 18th century. The way it used to be practiced back then is very different from what the directors are faced with today. For instance, the days of somber ceremony, black-plumed horses and heavy mourning are long gone. With this dynamic trend, the future of funeral directors is definitely going experience further changes and by the year 2020, great changes will be realized in the profession (Box Funeral Directors Ltd., 2010).
Salter (2005) assets that there is a continuous shift in the way the society thinks and feels about death and funeral directors will be forced to adapt to this changes in order to meet these emerging and changing needs. Today funeral homes are looked at as a one-stop-shop, providing a wide range services from lasting keepsakes and floral tributes. Slowly, the number of individuals who other than the funeral centering on grief and loss, gives them a chance for celebrating their life as opposed to just focusing on mourning, is growing. This implies that my profession is going to see solemn hymns and traditional black outfits being replaced by preferred pop songs and subtle colors. Funeral directors will be forced to follow this drift in culture and provide a wide range of services to cater for both the older generation who would still prefer traditional approaches and the contemporary ones.
The profession will continue looking for compassionate and highly-trained personnel with ability to handle both the emotional and practical aspects of loss experienced by families (Utah Prime Times, 2010). Due to further anticipated changes in the society, funeral directors will have to stay in light with them and offer services that go past the funeral itself. The shifting life's business will also call for efficiency in service delivery and other than just dealing with the obvious loss and grief; they will have to incorporate such services like legal issues, counseling, linking families to support groups, financial guidance and aftercare services. The profession will extensively more knowledge-based than ever before.
The number of dispersed families is also projected to increase in future and through to 20120, more and more families will disperse. Many people will seek convenience while dealing with death of a loved one. This is one aspect that all those in this profession have to stay prepared for and their role will evolve to employ technology extensively and the internet to restructure its services and aid to ease the trouble of loss (Box Funeral Directors Ltd., 2010).
It has to be noted most importantly that the profit margins obtained from sale of coffins and facilities usage has considerably reduced currently and trend will go on in future (Salter, 2005). Due to this a range of other products and services will expand, they entail creative keepsakes like necklaces manufactured from cremated remains and online obituaries. Additionally, with the whole controversy surrounding cremation due to environmental concerns, funeral directors will have for many future years, to persist to adapt their services.
Cutting edge technology will also be witnessed in this profession in future. Even though currently there many funeral directors are employing modern technology to discharge their services, more advanced technology will be used in future to help families plan for to send-off their loved ones decently (Utah Prime Times, 2010).
To sum up this whole discussion, the role of funeral directors will immensely change in the future to enable them meet the needs of the changing societal and cultural ways. Even though the future may bring a lot of changes in this field, the role of funeral directors will stay comforting, sensitive and practical.