PRE-PLANNING - WHAT ARE BEREAVEMENT CARE PROVIDERS?

Bereavement care providers are generally professional establishments that engage in death care, burial preparation, funeral and memorialization of the deceased. In the past, these establishments were traditionally known as “undertakers”.

Depending on the size of the establishment, bereavement care providers may provide a different range of services. A small family owned establishment for instance may provide basic funeral services such as organizing wakes and funerals, body transportation services, sale of products such as caskets and urns, and burial services. Larger enterprises may provide a larger range of integrated services aside from the ones mentioned above such as pre-planning, death reporting and documentation, body preparation services (e.g. embalming, restoration and cosmetology), funeral parlors, post funeral services, grief counselling, operation of private memorial parks and other value added services.

Whichever option you choose to go with, there are always pros and cons. A small family owned establishment may at times have a community-based track record that goes back several generations and therefore can be counted upon to provide personable service although with limited range of services. Larger enterprises on the other hand can offer a wider range of professional-level services although at a higher cost. The most important consideration here is that you and your family must be comfortable with the bereavement care provider.