Life Span Growth & Development Epilogue: Death & Dying

Front 1

Thanatology

Back 1

The study of death and dying, especially in their social and emotional aspects.

Front 2

Near-death Experience

Back 2

An episode in which a person comes close to dying but survives and reports having left his or her body and having moved toward a bright, white light while feeling peacefulness and joy.

Front 3

Good Death

Back 3

A death that is peaceful, quick, and painless and that occurs at the end of a long life, in the company of family and friends, and in familiar surroundings.

Front 4

Hospice

Back 4

An institution in which terminally ill patients receive palliative care.

Front 5

Palliative Care

Back 5

Care designed not to treat an illness but to relieve the pain and suffering of the patient and his or her family.

Front 6

Double Effect

Back 6

An ethical situation in which a person performs an action that is good or morally neutral but has ill effects that are foreseen, though not desired.

Front 7

Passive Euthanasia

Back 7

A situation in which a seriously ill person is allowed to die naturally, through the cessation of medical interventions.

Front 8

DNR (Do Not Resuscitate)

Back 8

A written order from a physician (sometimes initiated by a patient's advance directive or by a health care proxy's request) that no attempt should be made to revive a patient if he or she suffers cardiac or respiratory arrest.

Front 9

Active Euthanasia

Back 9

A situation in which someone takes action to bring about another person's death, with the intention of ending that person's suffering.

Front 10

Physician-assisted Suicide

Back 10

A form of active euthanasia in which a doctor provides the means for someone to end his or her own life.

Front 11

Slippery Slope

Back 11

The argument that a given action will start a chain of events that will culminate in an undesirable outcome.

Front 12

Living Will

Back 12

A document that indicates what medical intervention an individual wants if he or she becomes incapable of expressing those wishes.

Front 13

Health Care Proxy

Back 13

A person chosen by another person to make medical decisions if the second person becomes unable to do so.

Front 14

Bereavement

Back 14

The sense of loss following a death.

Front 15

Grief

Back 15

An individual's emotional response to the death of another.

Front 16

Mourning

Back 16

The ceremonies and behaviors that a religion or culture prescribes for bereaved people

Front 17

Absent Grief

Back 17

A situation in which overly private people cut themselves off from the community and customs of expected grief; can lead to social isolation.

Front 18

Disenfranchised Grief

Back 18

A situation in which certain people, although they are bereaved, are not allowed to mourn publicly.

Front 19

Incomplete Grief

Back 19

A situation in which circumstances, such as a police investigation or an autopsy, interfere with the process of grieving.

Front 20

How is death viewed in childhood?

Back 20

1) children as young as 2 have some understanding of death
2) fear death means being abandoned by the people they love
3) children do not share the same perceptions as adults

Front 21

How is death viewed in adolescence and emerging adulthood?

Back 21

1) Death is feared less
2) Live is considered less precious
3) Death is romanticized

Front 22

How is death viewed in adulthood?

Back 22

1) Death is dreaded as something to be avoided or at least postponed
2) Terminally ill adults do not fear their own death as much as they worry about leaving something undone
3) Attitudes about death are quite different for a public tragedy and for a private one - age of death is one factor, emotions of public death and public policy affect

Front 23

How is death viewed in late adulthood?

Back 23

1) Anxiety about death decreases
2) Older people tie up loose ends (wills, reconcile with family, read scriptures)
3) Religion becomes more important
4) Family becomes more important

Front 24

How is death vied by Buddhists?

Back 24

1) Disease and death are inevitable sufferings which may eventually bring enlightenment - they are part of the great circle of existence
2) Death occurs in 8 stages, with the last 4 after 'physical death'
3) The task of the individual is to gain insight from dying
4) Death is not an end of the individual who will be reborn and if all goes well eventually reach nirvana

Front 25

How is death viewed by Hindus?

Back 25

1) The immediate family should help the dying person surrender his or her ties to this world and prepare for the next
2) A holy death - resting on the ground, chanting prayers, lips moistened with water from the sacred Ganges River, surrounded by family members who are reciting sacred texts
3) achieving enlightenment is more important than pain

Front 26

How is death viewed by Native American Traditions?

Back 26

Death is an affirmation of nature and community

Front 27

How is death viewed by Jews?

Back 27

1) Life should be celebrated and hope sustained
2) The person is never left alone during and after the process of dying
3) On the day after death, the body is buried, unembalmed and in a plain wooden coffin to symbolize that physical preservation is not possible.
4) The family mourns at home for 1 week, the door of the house is never locked
5) The family recites a prayer called the Kaddish every evening and curtails social activities for 1 year.
6) The kaddish is said in a special service on the anniversary of the dead
7) The person lives on in the memory and respect of the mourners, not in heaven or hell

Front 28

How is death viewed by Christians?

Back 28

1) Death is not an end but a beginning of eternity in heaven or hell
2) Wake and funeral services range from quiet and solemn to joyful to mournful

Front 29

How is death viewed by Muslims?

Back 29

1) Death affirms faith
2) Everyone should be mindful of death as this life is fleeting
3) Caring for the dying is a holy reminder of mortality
4) Devout strangers as well as relatives participate in the rituals before and after death (reciting prayers, washing the body, carrying the coffin, attending the funeral)
5) Public and noisy lamenting over death may be expressed by everyone, especially the first 3 days after death.
6) Judgement takes place before passing into a better world

Front 30

Where is physician-assisted suicide legal?

Back 30

Oregon and the Netherlands

Front 31

What are two different ways to determine death?

Back 31

The definition used to be that death occurred when the brain waves stopped. A person in a "persistent vegetative state" is dead in every function, but life support measures may keep the person's heart beating, which some people view as alive.

Front 32

In 1960, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross established a list 5 stages of emotions a dying person typically experiences. Name the 5 stages in order.

Back 32

1) Denial
2) Anger
3) Bargaining
4) Depression
5) Acceptance

Front 33

Abraham Maslow's developed 5 stages of dying based on the hierarchy of human needs. Name these 5 stages in order.

Back 33

1) Physiological needs - freedom from pain
2) Safety - no abandonment
3) Bargaining - I will be good from now on if I live
4) Depression - I don't care abut anything, nothing matters.
5) Self-actualization - spiritual transcendence

Front 34

Name 4 barriers patients experience to entering hospice care.

Back 34

1) Patients must be terminally ill, with death anticipated within 6 months. Such predictions are hard to make. Doctors predictions were 90% accurate for those who died within a week, but only 13% accurate after that.
2) Patients and caregivers must accept death. Many fear hospice because they want to keep hope alive.
3) Hospice care is expensive, especially if curative therapy continues.
4) Availability varies.

Front 35

What were the main reasons Oregon residents gave for requesting physician assistance in dying?

Back 35

Psychological reasons were gave over biological. Reasons included loss of autonomy, less able to enjoy life, loss of dignity, loss of control over others.

Front 36

What were the characteristics of people who request and consume lethal drugs in Oregon?

Back 36

1) Younger - the average age was 69
2) Better educated - 41% were college graduates
3) More often divorces or never married - 33% vs. 19%
4) Richer - 62% had private health insurance
5) Less often of minority ethnicity - 97% were European Americans

Front 37

List three medical state that a person may be in that present difficulty in end of life choices.

Back 37

1) Locked-in syndrome - the person cannot move, except the eyes, but brain waves are still apparent - the person is not dead
2) Coma - a state of deep unconsciousness from which the person cannot be aroused. Some people awake, others enter a vegetative state - the person is not dead.
3) Vegetative state - a state of deep unconsciousness in which all cognitive functions are absent, although eyes may open, sounds may be emitted, and breathing may continue - the person is not dead. After time has elapsed the person may effectively be dead since no one has recovered after 2 years; most who do recover show improvement within 3 weeks.

Front 38

What is the difference between mourning and grief?

Back 38

Mourning is the public process.
Grief is the private emotion.

Front 39

Why is there such a diverse reaction to death?

Back 39

Grief is not necessarily rational or predictable. Each individual's childhood, life experiences, and personality affect how they experience grief. Modern lifestyles often make us closer to friends than families, but it is families who are empowered to make end-of-life decisions.