Christine Longaker

The 4 stages of major change

An existential perspective...

Christine Longaker is very much in the same category as Elizabeth Kubler-Ross in that her work is totally based on her experience with death and care of the dying which began in 1976 when her husband was diagnosed with acute leukemia at the age of 24.

Since her husband's passing, she has devoted her life to ease the suffering of those facing death. In a clear and compassionate tone, she identifies the typical fears and struggles experienced by the dying and their families.

She is author of the book "Facing death and finding hope" which presents using the Tibetan Buddhist perspective on death -the "Four Tasks of Living and Dying," to provide a new framework of meaning that can be applied to every type of caregiving setting.

The significance of the Longaker model is that she addresses the deeper spiritual and existential questions: “What is the purpose of my life? Why am I here? What is important and not important?".

In my opinion, given that major change often does represent a form of death, those of us involved with change management and especially those of us who endorse and seek to practise a people centred approach can learn much from the work of Longaker and Kubler-Ross.

Longaker model

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