Research Theme 4

Social injustice and unnoticed dying

While exploring the issue of dying alone I came to realise that there are many ways of dying alone, and that some involve high levels of social injustice. Some people, at the fringes of our society, are not treated equitably in either their living or their dying.

James Shirley, the seventeenth century dramatist and poet, wrote ‘Death The Leveller’. This suggested that ultimately we are all equal because we all die. While I agree with him that we must all die, I do not agree that this makes us equal. Even in dying, some people are more privileged than others. They live longer, they have better opportunities and more choices about how to live. When they are ill they have access to better health care and are likely to receive better end of life care in the place that they choose.

There are deaths which occur in the UK context which are unnoticed and disregarded. Such unnoticed deaths are likely to be of people who live at the fringes of society  and who are unnoticed in their living, and then unnoticed in their dying. They are people who are unlikely to be in receipt of any care or support as their lives end. People who live isolated and solitary lives may die in this way. Often, but not always, they will be older people. They live alone and are cut off from the people around them and from support services. When they die no one notices their absence until there is a horrible smell coming from their home, or the bailiffs call because of unpaid bills. Then, their body will be discovered.

People experiencing homelessness can also die an unnoticed death. People without a home die about 30 years earlier than their housed counterparts and often they die from treatable illnesses or diseases of despair. A report by the Museum of Homelessness’ ‘dying homeless project’, tells us that in 2023 more than 1,400 people died in the UK while homeless. The report, and further information, is available here: https://museumofhomelessness.org/dhp

In the UK, currently,  we are living in a period of high social inequality and this continues until, and during, our deaths. Access to good end of life care is not equitably shared amongst us, with some groups not receiving the care and support that they need. In this project my aim is to explore the topic of social injustice and unnoticed dying.

I am using multiple methods to unpack the topic. I shall talk to people who have specialised knowledge and understanding, whether from personal experience, work experience or research. I shall explore the relevant literatures on topics such as social justice, injustice and inequality. I shall review appropriate research literatures. I shall carry out an analysis of relevant documents, such as safeguarding reports, media coverage and policy documents.

If you have experience or views of this issue and would like them to be included in the project, please do get in touch via the contact form.

Conference presentations

I presented early thoughts on this project in a paper called ‘Unnoticed dying’. This was at a session on ‘Dying at the margins: The inequalities of access to end-of-life care’ at Jesus College, University of Cambridge in October 2024. A film of the event is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP7bft62z9k

I presented early work from the project at the British Sociological Association’s annual conference in April 2025. This took place at the University of Manchester. The following is the abstract of my talk:

The injustices of disregarded dying

Each year in the UK there are deaths which occur and which are unnoticed at the time. People who are living on the margins of society sometimes have so little impact on those around them that their deaths are disregarded until such time as their corpse is discovered. People like the homeless man who died in a tent near a busy road and was only found a year later, or the retired nurse who died in her flat and lay undiscovered for about five years, or the woman whose decomposing body was found on a beach and who has not been identified seven years later. No one had missed them, nor sought them out. Each of their bodies was found by chance. This paper draws on ongoing research exploring instances of such deaths and the work of people who try to make change. It will begin addressing some of the questions raised by such disregarded dying. How is it that such deaths can occur?  How do we, as a society, manage such deaths and could we do it in a more equitable way? Do such deaths matter? Do they evidence a plethora of individual problems, or indicate a range of social issues? The case will be argued that the people who die such unnoticed and disregarded deaths are often subject to social injustice during their lifetime, and that this continues until the time of their death and after.

If you would like to know more, or if you have any comments or queries, please do get in touch using the contact form.