Grief, memory, and caring for the dead | Mary Ellen Macdonald | TEDxPugwash

Mary Ellen Macdonald addresses a subject that all of us have experienced at one time or another: grief and loss.

Mary Ellen believes that when we offer compassion and respect to our loved ones as they pass from this world, we will find peace in our grieving as they find peace in death.
Mary Ellen Macdonald is an anthropologist who has been studying death and grief for two decades. She is a professor in Palliative Medicine at Dalhousie University where she holds the J & W Murphy Foundation Endowed Chair in Palliative Care. In this position, she has the mandate to contribute to growing palliative and end-of-life care research and practice across Nova Scotia.

Mary Ellen grew up in Kjipuktuk/Halifax, Nova Scotia, and has deep roots in Cumberland and Guysborough counties. She has recently returned to the province after studying and working in Montreal.

She is particularly passionate about understanding how communities care for their dead and support their grievers. This understanding is helping her to work with communities to enhance death literacy and grief literacy around the province. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx