This study deals with the meaning that musicians and non-musicians attach to two contemporary railway noise compositions as conveyed through verbal and audio-graphic responses. The purpose of this mixed-method study was twofold: (1) to examine similarities and differences between musicians and non-musicians in their responses to contemporary…

This exploratory case study examined how two teachers used a comparative approach to teach genocide histories in a Holocaust Literature elective course. Through interviews and observations, we studied how the teachers guided students in comparing genocides as well as how they used survivor testimonies in their instruction. We found that teachers…

Background: The topic of funerals within the life cycle approach to care in the UK remains largely absent. This small exploratory study sought to investigate how practitioners deal with this sensitive issue and to capture the views of older people with and without intellectual disabilities about funerals. Methods: A semi-structured questionnaire…

Bereavement and its accompanying psychological response (grief) constitute potent experiences that necessitate the reorganization of cognitive-affective representations of lost significant attachment figures during both wakefulness and dreaming. The goals of this preliminary study were to explore whether the dream content of 77 adults with…

This study compared active teaching strategies with passive lecture by evaluating cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning outcomes, while highlighting end-of-life communication in nursing education. The problem addressed was twofold: First, passive lecture prevents transfer to situational decision-making, or a sense of salience (Benner,…

Previous research suggests that caregivers and terminally ill patients face substantial difficulties discussing illness and death. Existing research, however, has focused primarily on the experience of patients. The current study compared responses as well as the relative strength of association between mortality communication, fear of death, and…

The Grief Experience Inventory and the MMPI were used to assess bereavement reactions in newly bereaved individuals. Intensities of bereavement reactions were compared across types of deaths experienced, i.e., spouse, child, and parent. Significantly higher intensities of grief were noted in parents surviving their child's death. (Author)

Chronic dysfunction after complicated grief is not rare and emphasizes the need to identify bereaved individuals at risk. Three months following bereavement, self-reported psychiatric and general health of 153 relatives of 74 suicides was worse than of 70 relatives of 39 natural deaths. Moreover, the felt need for professional help was higher…

Investigates the differential emotional and coping responses of 41 older and 48 younger respondents who had recently lost a loved one to death. Results show that older respondents confided more in close others and reported more account-making (storylike constructions) than did younger respondents, helping them adapt more readily to major loss.…

The literature on suicide survivors suggests that suicide grief is different than the grief associated with survivorship from other causes. The few studies that have compared groups of survivors from other causes, however, have often not observed as many differences as expected based on the suicide survivors literature. In this study, 230 college…

A workshop group (didactic) participated in an educational program emphasizing lecture presentations and small group discussion. The second group (experiential) confronted, examined, and shared feelings and reactions to grief and death. Data indicated experiential group showed a significant reduction in fear of death as a result of the workshop.…

Violent incidents occur frequently in schools and suicide ranks second to accidents as the leading cause of death among adolescents. The purpose of this presentation is to summarize the findings of six studies that used a stimulus-drawing task for access to fantasies, thoughts, and feelings. The studies were based on the theory that the task can…

Interviewed bereaved persons shortly after the death of a close family member and 18 months later. Respondents were grouped according to mode of death. The short-term chronic illness group made the most favorable adjustment. Sudden death and long-term chronic illness death groups sustained higher intensities of bereavement. (Author/RC)

The public's reaction to the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations was crying, loss of appetite, inability to sleep, nausea, nervousness, and sometimes anger. The group reaction was to share the emotions of grief and bereavement. The death of a powerful public figure leads individuals to consider their own mortality. (Author/JAC)

Negative attitudes, as expressed in humor, to aging, old age, and death were found by analysis of jokes in currently available jokebook anthologies. In particular, very negative attitudes to aging of women were found. Some ambivalence in attitude was discovered. (Author)