The intent of this instructor’s manual is to assist you in using Understanding Dying,
Death, and Bereavement (7th Edition), in a course on death and dying. Test questions
(true-false, multiple-choice, and essay) are included for your use in making
examinations. Also included are lists of questions for selected death-related
professionals.
In addition to reading assignments and classroom audiovisuals, we suggest
inviting speakers for classes on death and dying. A physician and/or a nurse can
discuss how they relate to terminally ill patients. Discussing preventive measures of
illness such as diet, exercise, and daily habits can make for an informative session
with a medical doctor. Invite a social worker from a nursing home or hospice to share
experiences of working with terminally ill patients. Contact your local or state
American Cancer Society about bringing in a cancer patient to discuss death and
dying from a patient’s perspective. A clinical psychologist can talk about signs of
suicide and how to react to a suicidal person. A nutritionist speaking on cancer and
diet can contribute to the class and give practical advice toward better eating habits.
Side effects of medications are a good topic for a pharmacist to present in your class.
An insurance agent can discuss various kinds of life insurance. A panel of clergy
representing various faiths can relate to dealing with dying, death, and bereavement.
A coroner can discuss his or her role in the community and can contribute toward a
most interesting class session. A funeral director or cemetery superintendent can talk
about his or her legal and social responsibilities. Invite a memorial society
representative to discuss the goals of this organization. Ask a veterinarian to come to
your class to discuss death and pets. A philosopher can speak on medical ethics, and
an attorney can discuss the importance of having a will and recent legislation on
living wills.
We also encourage field trips to enhance classroom activities. Take your class to
a local funeral home. Let the students have a question and answer session with the
funeral director prior to viewing the casket selection room, the viewing rooms, and the
embalming room. Visit local cemeteries to observe epitaphs, dates of deaths, size of
monuments for males and females, symbols on gravestones, and the overall neatness
(or lack thereof) of cemeteries. If one is nearby, visit a crematory. Ask students to
write a brief reaction paper to each of the field trips to ensure that they reflect on this
experience.
A combination of speakers on specific topics and leaving the classroom for field
trips can enhance classroom discussions and reading materials. In addition, we
recommend that you ask students to write their own obituaries stating how, when,
and where they died. The students may tell anything they wish about themselves in
the obituaries and should include final disposition of the body. When you are
discussing children and death, ask students to recall their own first experience with
death. Instruct them to write about their first experience with death, to give their age
at the time, relate who or what died, and note anything remembered about that event.
Such an exercise can be rather revealing about how vivid these early experiences
, were for students.
For individual or group term projects, we suggest the following topics as
starters:
Children’s attitudes toward death (ask them to draw pictures of death)
Interviews with the elderly about funeral customs when they were young
Religious beliefs related to death attitudes
Death attitudes of various professional groups (nurses, physicians, funeral
directors, teachers, attorneys)
Death themes in classical music, rock music, and poetry
College students’ perceptions of dying and death
Death themes in the visual arts
Death in literature
History of the funeral industry
Death as depicted in movies
Death on television
Death humor
Veterinarians and euthanasia
Roadside memorials
Internet obituaries
Evolution of the funeral industry to meet the needs of Baby Boomers
Art therapists and end-of-life issues
Attitudes of different age groups toward death
Death education in public schools
Comparison of epitaphs on grave markers in ethnic cemeteries
College students’ knowledge of hospice
History of gravestones
Music therapists and end-of-life issues
Internet suicide chat rooms
End-of-life issues with health care professionals
Cross-cultural analysis of funeral customs
Current ethical issues about death
Cross-cultural views on suicide
Hospice evolution since the 1970s
Physician-assisted suicide
Child-life specialists (play therapy) and end-of-life issues
Best of luck as you teach your death and dying course.
Michael R. Leming and George E. Dickinson
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