Death, Dying and Bereavement Flashcards
death: clinical death
- period during which vital signs are absent
- resuscitation is still possible
- presumably, near death experiences occur in this state
brain death
- absence of vital signs (includes brain activity)
- resuscitation is no longer possible
- person is considered legally dead
social death
- point to which family and medical personnel treat the deceased person as a corpse
- family and friends must begin to deal with the loss
end of life: hospital care
majority of deaths occur in hospitals (in Canada)
end of life: hospice palliative care
- hollistic approach to care for terminally il
- emphasizes individual and family control
- emerged in the 60s
death with dignity
- more likely if the dying person is at home
- more contact with family and friends at home
hospice care philosophy
- death should be viewed as normal
- patient and family should be encouraged to prepare for the death
- medical care should be primarily palliative care - not cure
- refer to Notebook Shema
hospice care philosophy: care is aimed at satisfying _____
- physical needs
- emotional needs
- spiritual needs
- psychological needs
hospice care philosophy helps families to ____
- prepare for and manage self-determined life closure and dying process
- cope with loss and grief
controversial topics about death: assisted suicide and euthanasia
- refer to concepts from this chapter
meaning of death: the 3 aspects
- death is irreversible
- death is inevitable
- death means the cessation of all function
this varies with beliefs and religion
children understanding death: 4 years old (preschool)
- no understanding of death
- often explained to children in other abstract terms
- do not have cognitive and emotional knowledge
- begin to understand the sadness related to it
children understanding death: 5 years old
- understand death is sad
- understand adults fear death
- may begin to fear death themselves
- may have many questions about death
- how we talk about death can result in guilt or shame
children understanding death: 7 years old
- understanding death is permanent, irreversible, happens to everyone
- may personify death in other forms (angels, ghosts)
- states of change
children understanding death: 9 years old
- most seem to understanding permanence and universality of death
- teaching them about the nature of biological life
- knowledge helps understand what causes death and why it is irreversible
- creates better coping
having a pet in childhood
strongly correlated with understanding death
controversy: How do I tell my child that they are dying?
- many cultural perspectives
- influenced by social environment
teens understanding death
- have good understanding of death and grief
- may have unrealistic beliefs about death
- go through unique invulnerability
development of psychological approaches to death
increase in various perspectives as people get older
unique invulnerability
- belief that bad things only happen to others
- egocentrism in adolescence
challenging unique invulnerability
- sudden loss of a loved one shakes younger adults and teens
- especially impacted by death of young public figures
- look for reasons for death
adults understanding death
- death changes roles
- brings permanent changes in social systems
- switch: “time since birth” to “time till death”
- middle-aged adults stuck in the past = more anxious and fearful of death
death as loss
- most pervasive meaning of death
- younger adults: “I could have done this”
- older adults: “I should have done this”
fear of death
stems from existential uncertainties
- annihilation anxiety of fear of non-existence
- fear of pain and loneliness
- fear of failing and complete life work
- finality of death
- ultimate loss
- uncertainty of what follows next
finality of death
- no reversal, no remedy, no tmr
- cessation of all hope with respect to this world
uncertainty of what follows
uncertainty coupled with finality can create terror
annihilation anxiety
- concept of non being = scary
- goes against strong innate conviction that life should not be reduced to non-being
ultimate loss
- forced to lose everything we have ever valued
- strong attachments = fear death the most
- loss of control over death affairs
- loss of ability to care for dependents
fear of pain and loneliness
afraid of manner of death
failing to complete life’s work
