What Is the Death Positive Movement? A Guide to Talking About Death Openly

The short answer: The death positive movement is a cultural shift toward open, honest conversation about death, dying, and grief — challenging the taboo of death by bringing mortality into everyday discourse through Death Cafes, social media, literature, and education.

Origins of the Death Positive Movement

The modern death positive movement grew from several converging streams: the work of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross on grief and dying (1960s–70s), the hospice movement's advocacy for dignified death, and the Death Cafe movement (2011). Caitlin Doughty, a mortician and author, became a prominent death positive voice with her Order of the Good Death organization (2011) and bestselling books.

What Death Positivity Is (and Isn't)

Death positivity does not mean being happy about death or denying grief. It means: being willing to talk openly about death, doing advance planning rather than avoidance, engaging with mortality in ways that reduce fear, and treating the dying process with curiosity rather than denial.

Why Death Positivity Matters

Research shows that death avoidance — our culture's default — produces worse outcomes: inadequate advance planning, more aggressive end-of-life medical treatment, more isolation for dying people, and more complicated grief for survivors. Death positivity addresses these harms by bringing mortality into conscious consideration.

How to Engage

Attend a Death Cafe. Complete your advance directive. Read "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" or "Being Mortal." Talk to your family about your wishes. Have the conversations you've been avoiding.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does death positive mean?

Death positive means being willing to talk openly about death and dying, engaging with mortality thoughtfully rather than avoiding it, and doing advance planning for end of life. It does not mean being happy about death or minimizing grief.

Who started the death positive movement?

The modern death positive movement has multiple roots — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's grief research, the hospice movement, and more recently Caitlin Doughty's Order of the Good Death (2011) and the Death Cafe movement founded by Jon Underwood (2011).

How can I become more death positive?

Attend a Death Cafe, complete your advance directive, read books like 'Being Mortal' by Atul Gawande or 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes' by Caitlin Doughty, and practice having open conversations about death with your family and loved ones.

Renidy connects grieving families with certified death doulas, funeral planners, and end-of-life guides. Find support at Renidy.com.