OmegaPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2024-03-18DOI: 10.1177/00302228241239497
Repakaba Tzudir, Ropfuvino Krose
{"title":"Dynamics of Mortuary Practices in Nagaland: Exploring the Impact of Social Capital.","authors":"Repakaba Tzudir, Ropfuvino Krose","doi":"10.1177/00302228241239497","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228241239497","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nagas are a small Indigenous tribal community that inhabits the northeastern region of India. It is inhabited by seventeen recognized tribes including non-Naga tribe of Kuki and Kachari with rich cultural diversity and customary practices. Modernity has been one of the most debated topics, in this regard the paper argues on the responsibility of modernity. The study mainly focuses on the two major tribes of Nagaland that is the Ao tribe and the Angami tribe, as to how the cultural practices in disposing of death is contested and negotiated in contemporary society. Thus, drawing from an ethnohistorical perspective and empirical study, the article depicts how modernity and development tremendously transformed the traditional structure, however, homogeneity in the form of social capital still persists in a heterogeneous society.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"469-486"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140159755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2024-03-06DOI: 10.1177/00302228241237834
Sylvie Fortin, Sabrina Lessard, Marie-Ève Samson
{"title":"Diversity and Access to Palliative Care and Medical Assistance in Dying in an Urban Setting.","authors":"Sylvie Fortin, Sabrina Lessard, Marie-Ève Samson","doi":"10.1177/00302228241237834","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228241237834","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article focuses on the end-of-life experiences of migrants and non-migrants from young to old, who died in a Canadian cosmopolitan city in the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on interviews with over one hundred relatives of as many deceased, the authors discuss end of life issues, namely access to palliative care and medical assistance in dying. The data indicate unequal access to care at the intersection of several factors, including type of disease, patient's age, uncertainty of their prognosis, and migrant/non-migrant status. While being young and having cancer were undeniably associated with the provision of care (curative and palliative), those who did not benefit from palliative care tended to be social minorities in the local society and suffered from diseases with ambiguous prognosis. The right to \"Die with dignity\" is fundamental, with or without palliative care and regardless of where the end of life takes place.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"297-316"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13002951/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140051206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2024-03-13DOI: 10.1177/00302228241238907
Monika Alvestad Reime, Maja O' Connor, Sigurd William Hystad, Kari Dyregrov
{"title":"Drug-Death Related Bereavement and Social Support.","authors":"Monika Alvestad Reime, Maja O' Connor, Sigurd William Hystad, Kari Dyregrov","doi":"10.1177/00302228241238907","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228241238907","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The loss of a close one to drug-related death (DRD) has been characterized as a form of stigmatized bereavement, and research has shown that there is a high risk of bereavement complications. Social support can be a buffer against bereavement complications, but because of stigma, DRD bereaved persons access to social support can be challenged. Based on data from a Norwegian sample of DRD bereaved persons (<i>N</i> = 252) the present study examines (1) bereaved persons' perceived access to different aspects of social support, and (2) the association between bereaved persons' experiences of societal stigma, own withdrawal, self-blame, and their perceptions of social support. Results show (1) that bereaved persons' access to contact with persons in the same situation is particularly low compared to other support aspects, and (2) that perceived stigma (4%) and own withdrawal (5%) predict variations in drug-related death bereaved persons' perception of social support.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"397-419"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13002958/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140112353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2024-03-14DOI: 10.1177/00302228241239809
Dolores Angela Castelli Dransart, Christian Maggiori, Daniel Burnier, François Geiser, Sylvie Lapierre
{"title":"To Plan or Not to Plan? Experiences and Challenges of Older Swiss Adults Facing End-of-Life Decisions.","authors":"Dolores Angela Castelli Dransart, Christian Maggiori, Daniel Burnier, François Geiser, Sylvie Lapierre","doi":"10.1177/00302228241239809","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228241239809","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>End-of-life (EoL) planning and the drafting of advance care directives (ACD) are challenging for older adults. As part of a mixed study, the content of 18 semi-structured interviews with Swiss community-dwelling older adults was analyzed to investigate contextual and interactional aspects that might influence their choice to complete ACD. Results show that EoL planning vary greatly. Three types of planners were highlighted: the solo planners, the collaborative planners, and the delegators. Each represents a specific way of conceiving autonomy, the usefulness of ACD and of involving third parties in the decision-making process. Whereas for solo planners, ACD is a personal, rational affair, for collaborative planners and delegators, reflection and decisions on EoL issues are interactional and iterative processes. The results suggest that health and social care professionals would benefit from taking into consideration the various types of planning, in order to provide the best support to older adults for ACD completion.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"487-503"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13002950/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140121542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2024-03-15DOI: 10.1177/00302228241239220
Orla Jennings, Sara Leitao, Keelin O'Donoghue
{"title":"Mind Yourself So You Can Mind Me; The Role of Parental Behaviour in Perinatal Death on the Surviving Sibling's Grief.","authors":"Orla Jennings, Sara Leitao, Keelin O'Donoghue","doi":"10.1177/00302228241239220","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228241239220","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Children's grief, in perinatal loss, can be misunderstood and overlooked. Parental behaviour while mourning infant loss and parental ability to respond to their own grief has a crucial role in the child's grief. This study aimed to explore parental behaviour as a determining factor in siblings' grief following perinatal death. Six mothers and two fathers experiencing perinatal loss were interviewed about their perception of the child's experience of perinatal death. Thematic analysis allowed for identifying of relevant themes. The main themes related to parents' expression of grief, insight and understanding of their children's grief and communicating the death/anticipated death with their surviving children. Findings showed that children seek out information on their deceased sibling and need supportive parents to guide them through their grief. Our study highlights that supporting parents in their grief is a key factor for a healthy grieving process in children and must be considered when supporting families in perinatal death.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"439-457"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13002943/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140133436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2024-01-31DOI: 10.1177/00302228241230718
Somayeh Mohammad Sadeghipour, Abbasali Rostami Nasab, Hamid Reza Alavi, Morad Yari Dehnavi, Abbas Mowzoon
{"title":"Exploring the Nature of Near-Death Experiences in Iranian Experiencers: A Case Study of the Participants in the Life after Life TV Series.","authors":"Somayeh Mohammad Sadeghipour, Abbasali Rostami Nasab, Hamid Reza Alavi, Morad Yari Dehnavi, Abbas Mowzoon","doi":"10.1177/00302228241230718","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228241230718","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Near-death experiences (NDEs) are complex and challenging. The development of research on NDEs helps to understand and recognize this complex human phenomenon more effectively. The present study sought to explore the nature of NDEs in the lived experiences of Iranian who experienced near-death incidents (NDErs) using a qualitative phenomenological approach. The participants were 34 persons selected from Iranian NDErs. The collected data were analyzed using Colaizzi's seven-step content analysis with MAXQDA software (version 2021). The data revealed 11 semantic codes about the nature of NDEs reported by Iranian NDErs. Overall, the results showed that the components of NDEs in many cases are similar to the nature of NDEs of the world. However, the type and quality of the positive and negative NDEs reported by Iranian people are different in terms of the feedback of actions and the return to the body compared to other NDEs reported by people in other countries.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"38-60"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139643482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2024-02-28DOI: 10.1177/00302228241232731
Alper Karasoy
{"title":"The Drivers of Suicides in Turkey: An Econometric Approach.","authors":"Alper Karasoy","doi":"10.1177/00302228241232731","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228241232731","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This research examines the long-term drivers of suicides in Turkey, focusing on the effects of uncertainty and the Misery Index. In this regard, this study utilizes yearly data covering the 1980-2019 period. Additionally, it employs the <i>augmented autoregressive distributed lag</i> (<i>AARDL</i>) approach to confirm the cointegrating relationships in the proposed models and estimate the long-term effects of selected determinants on suicides. The empirical analysis produced the following long-run findings: First, cointegration exists between suicide and its determinants in Turkey. Second, uncertainty and the Misery Index significantly increase suicides. Third, tobacco consumption is positively associated with suicides. Fourth, economic growth and industrial output significantly inhibit suicides in Turkey. These findings underline that in developing open economies like Turkey, improving socio-economic factors can play a significant role in curbing suicidal behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"79-97"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13002960/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139984771","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2024-02-28DOI: 10.1177/00302228241236982
Hicran Karataş
{"title":"Beyond Death: Exploring Cultural Perceptions in Cadaveric Organ Donation.","authors":"Hicran Karataş","doi":"10.1177/00302228241236982","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228241236982","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Advancements in medicine introduced a relatively invented death into our lives: Brain Death. It intermingles with our perceptions of classical death due to knowing the heart is beating, the color of the skin is pink, and the body's temperature is warm. Hence, accepting brain death as death might get complicated in terms of relatives of the brain-dead person. The interviews revealed that the reluctance to cadaveric organ donations is highly connected to the cultural perception of death. Furthermore, folklore interferes with altruistic cadaveric donations, particularly folk beliefs, rituals, social norms, and oral traditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"209-224"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13002948/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139992066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2026-04-29DOI: 10.1177/00302228261449190
Sandy Habib, Sheena Kataz
{"title":"Death Practices Among the Circassians in Israel: An Ethnolinguistic Study.","authors":"Sandy Habib, Sheena Kataz","doi":"10.1177/00302228261449190","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228261449190","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This paper investigates the death practices in the largely undocumented linguaculture (interwoven ways of speaking and living) of the Circassian-speaking village of Kfar Kama in Israel. It employs two approaches, ethnography and the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM). Through the ethnographic approach, the paper provides a detailed account of what happens from the moment a person dies in Kfar Kama to the 40<sup>th</sup>-day memorial. Using NSM, the paper presents eight explications (simple definitions) and cultural scripts (short texts capturing cultural norms) related to death practices in Kfar Kama. The findings contribute to the fields of linguistics, thanatology, and anthropology, among other fields.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"302228261449190"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147791386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2026-04-25DOI: 10.1177/00302228261448307
Gaofei Ju
{"title":"A Dialogue in a Dislocated Space and Time: How Celebrity Digital Mourning Reshapes Chinese Fans' Memories of Death.","authors":"Gaofei Ju","doi":"10.1177/00302228261448307","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228261448307","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>How to recognize death and how to build up memories related to it is both solemn and sacred and full of mystery to the Chinese people, who have a deep traditional culture. This study focuses on the \"digital mourning\" of American basketball superstar Kobe Bryant by Chinese fans on social media platforms. Employing an exploratory research approach that combines virtual ethnography with semi-structured interviews, it analyzes how digital mourning for celebrities influences Chinese fans' memories of death and mourning rituals. The study found that following Kobe's death, social media accounts served as platforms for fans to engage with the deceased, bringing the emotional release central to the mourning process into the public sphere through \"digital mourning\" and shifting mourning rituals from the \"private\" realm of the individual to the \"public\" realm of the collective. Social media accounts used by Kobe during his lifetime, functioning as virtual extensions of physical mausoleums, have transformed into \"digital tombs\" where the living collectively commemorate the departed. Within the virtual, digital space constructed around this \"digital tombs\", fan communities not only spontaneously create \"imagined interactions\" with the deceased by transcending the barriers of time and space, but also seek emotional release and psychological solace. \"Digital mourning\" for celebrities places grief within a public sphere open to discussion, reshaping Chinese fans' perceptions of death in the social media era while also serving as a crucial entry point for analyzing the impact of digital mourning on the Chinese public's traditional memories of death.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"302228261448307"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147791378","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}