Death studies
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The International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement recognizes the wide variation of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours pertaining to childhood death, dying, and bereavement. The purpose of this statement is, therefore, to identify a set of assumptions which can serve as guidelines, across cultures, in the care of children with terminal illness and their families.
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This annotated bibliography on AIDS-related bereavement and grief was compiled to address a steadily increasing population: survivors of persons who have died of AIDS. Bibliographical entries were located by searching printed indexes, including Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Hospital Literature Index, Index Medicus, International Nursing Index, Psychological Abstracts, Social Science Index, Social Work Abstracts, and Sociological Abstracts. Databases searched included ERIC (Department of Education), Med-Line (National Library of Medicine), and Psych-Lit (American Psychological Association). ⋯ This work is meant to serve as a resource for professionals in a variety of fields (e.g., nursing, pastoral care, mental health, and social work) involved in social research, bereavement counseling, ministry, and group intervention. It can be useful as a literature search for students in a variety of disciplines and for the AIDS-bereaved themselves. The bibliography is accompanied by an overview of the current state of the literature and a summary of the areas still in need of research and publication.
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It has commonly been assumed by thanatologists that client problems centering on death and dying are particularly demanding and difficult for the mental health professional. The present study tested this assumption by asking 81 beginning counselors to rate their degree of comfort with 15 counseling scenarios, 5 of which involved death or loss (e.g., terminal illness, suicide, AIDS, grief) and 10 of which concerned other focal issues (e.g., rape, marital problems). As predicted, counselors rated situations involving death and dying as substantially more uncomfortable than other presenting problems. However, counselors' levels of experience and personal death threat were unrelated to their response to death situations, leaving the cause of their discomfort with such situations unexplained.
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This study examined differences in nurses' fear of death and level of comfort with patients having a poor prognosis for survival, as a function of the nurses' occupational level, work setting, and level of exposure to such patients. In addition, the relationship among the multidimensional aspects of fear of death and level of comfort with patients' poor prognosis was assessed. The sample included 312 professional and paraprofessional nurses who worked in hospitals and nursing homes. ⋯ Fear of death for significant others was found to differ significantly by work setting. Finally, a significant inverse relationship was found between comfort working with dying patients and overall fear of death. Suggestions for future research are presented.
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The thesis of this paper is that while allowing a person to die with care can be morally justified in particular cases, the option of mercy killing can never be morally defended. There is a significant moral difference between these two concepts. Furthermore, the wedge argument, the medical fallibility argument, and the medical care and trust argument provide cogent and convincing reasons for maintaining a legal distinction between mercy killing and letting a person die.