Symon Braun Freck

Symon is the founder of SBF Creative, a creative consulting firm focused on sharing end-of-life care narratives through film. She also founded AI Death Doula, a start-up dedicated to making end-of-life care practices accessible. Her journey into end-of-life care began at the age of 12 as a hospice volunteer. She produces multiple YouTube channels related to death and her research focuses on how technology can empower individuals to make autonomous end-of-life care decisions, and how it can help bring death care and funeral care back into the home.

Articles:

Dying in Prison: The Need for Hospice

Dying in Prison Today there are 1.9 million people incarcerated in the United States, with 1 out of 6 prisoners serving a life sentence (Sawyer and Wagner). While the sheer number of prisoners is concerning, so are the unethical practices, lack of resources, and dearth of rehabilitation opportunities endemic to the prison system. Substantial research supports the positive impact of rehabilitation programs for those with addiction and mental illness on the mitigation of mass incarceration. Nonetheless, most programs neglect one inevitable reality. What happens to those who are terminally ill and dying in prison? There is very little research on […]

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Cemeteries as Cultural Landmarks

Cemeteries as Cultural Landmarks Situated on the grounds of Paramount Pictures Studios, Hollywood Forever Cemetery has served as a cultural landmark in the Los Angeles area since it was taken over and revamped by actor Tyler Cassidy in 1998. With the fires recently scorching the Los Angeles area, I felt compelled to share research I conducted on Hollywood Forever Cemetery a few years back. While homes and lives have been burned to the ground, community has strengthened, proving love is more powerful than destruction. This ongoing grieving period is crucial for the Los Angeles community, and I hope my research […]

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Death Positivity vs. Fear of Death

Death Positivity vs. Fear of Death ‘They’re in a better place.’ ‘It was their time to go.’ ‘Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.’ These statements are fillers that Americans are taught from a young age to avoid discussing death. Although every person will inevitably experience death, at a minimum their own death, the American norm of death avoidance is perpetuated in our communities without much thought to the impact it has on those grieving. These simple, relatively superficial one-liners are embedded into our conversational vocabulary with the intention of helping the bereaved, but all of […]

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