LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT:
UNIT 10: Death & Dying
Objectives
After completion of this unit, the student will be able to …
1. Identify the terminology and stages associated with dying (e.g., life expectancy, mortality, agonal phase, brain death, clinical death, vegetative state, Kubler-Ross)
2. Discuss clinical, social, ethical, and legal aspects of death and dying (e.g., suicide, euthanasia, palliative care, hospice, advanced medical directives, conservatorship, durable power of attorney, living will)
3. Distinguish between bereavement, grief, and mourning.
AFFECTIVE: the emotional or values aspect of an attitude
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COGNITIVE: relating to concepts, beliefs, logic; rather than emotions or values (affect)
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DEPRESSION: (462,466,484-486,494-496) the unipolar mood disorder involving sadness, helplessness, hopelessness, and suicidal risk; the most common mental disorder in later life
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RITE OF PASSAGE: (293) a religious ritual or other public ceremony which helps people through major life transitions (e.g., marriage, childbirth, death); a funeral is an important rite of passage for survivors to resolve grief
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SUICIDE: (335,521-522) killing oneself; suicide is usually the result of depression; suicide rates are highest in adolescence and later life
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RELIGION: (370-371,425) a system of doctrines, ethics, rituals, myths, and symbols for the expression of ultimate relevance; do not refer to these phenomena as beliefs or faith; Brink sees religion as a resource for hardiness and resilience
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RESILIENCE: (281,373) the ability of individuals to overcome unfavorable background factors
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STRESS: (394-395,410-411,428,436-437) excessive pressure coming from the current environment, especially due to a demanding (or rapidly changing, or incompatible) set of social roles; since stress is an accumulation of external stimuli, stress should be viewed as an independent variable, while the responses to stress (physiological and psychological) should be viewed as a dependent variable
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FREE WILL: the assumption that humans may freely choose between alternatives (despite the existence of hereditary and environmental influences on those choices); Adler, Jung, James, Allport, Brink and Maslow defended free will
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CONSERVATOR: a person who is appointed by a court to have legal control over the financial affairs of someone else
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WIDOWHOOD: (493-495) the condition of someone who has had the death of a spouse, the case with most older women
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ADVANCE MEDICAL DIRECTIVE: (521-521) a written statement giving instructions for the possibility that an individual suffers a medical problem in which he cannot give conscious directions for treatment
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AGONAL PHASE: (510) gasps and spasms of dying
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BEREAVEMENT: (523-528) experience of losing someone or something dear
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BRAIN DEATH: (510) irreversible cessation of brain activity
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CLINICAL DEATH: (510) the cessation of heartbeat, breathing and brain functioning
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DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY: (520-521) authorizes the appointment of another person to make health care decisions on one’s behalf
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EUTHANASIA: (519-522) providing an individual with an easy death; passive euthanasia is withholding life-sustaining treatment; active euthanasia is like physician assisted suicide
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GRIEF: (523-528) intense affective distress due to bereavement
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HOSPICE: (517-519) a comprehensive program of support services for the dying
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KUBLER-ROSS: (513-514) Swiss psychiatrist who developed stage theory of dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance
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LIFE EXPECTANCY: (447-449) average age at death within a population
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LIVING WILL: (520-521) a document in which a person specifies treatments to be used in the case of terminal illness or other conditions
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MORTALITY: a condition in which the individual has died and cannot be resuscitated
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MOURNING: (523-527) culturally prescribed expression of grief
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PALLIATIVE: (518-519) care for the dying that relieves pain, rather than prolonging life
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VEGETATIVE STATE: (510) the cerebral cortex ceases activity but the brain stem remains active
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