Health Sciences 2711A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Portable Document Format, Assisted Suicide, Palliative Care
27 Jun 2018
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Death and Dying
Phases of dying
1. Agonal phasre
suffering in first moments body can no longer support life
gasps of air or muscle contractions
2. Clinical death
heart, breathing, brain stopped, but still can resuscitate
3. Mortality
permanent death
1/4 poepie die suddenly and 3/4 die slowly due to medical technologies
Defining dying
brain death
all activity in brain and brain stem stopped
irreversible
Persistent vegetative state
activity in cerebral cortex stopped
brain stem still active
Death with Dignity
Communication with and care of dying person:
assurance of support
humane, compassionate care
esteem and respect
candid about certainty of death - informed and alerted that life is coming to an
end
information to make end-of-life choices
majority of people do not experience an easy death therefore we must assure the
dignity of patients
Concept of Death - how do we learn what it is?
Permanence - death cannot be brought back to life
inevitability - everything that lives also dies
cessation - all functions of the body that is occupied seizes at death
applicability - universal
causation - if you live you will die
Children’s Understand of death - the beginning of the understanding of death
most develop adult like concept of death by middle childhood (7-10)
majority have not had a conflict with death and adults are reluctant to talk about it
Factors that affect understanding
experience with death
religious teaching
candid, sensitive discussion with adults
children with better grasp of what death and dying is will be able to cope with it better
later in life
Adolescents’ Understanding of death
do not take death personally
Logically understand death, but problems applying the idea to their lives
high risk activities
conversations with parents promote understandt
immature understanding of death
because of reproduction capacity kicking in
will think they are above and beyond death
most teenage death are sudden, violent, human inflicted result in unintentional injury
and are often related to homicide or suicide
Discussing Death with Children and Adolescents
Take the lead
listen perceptively to younger people
Acknowledge feeling
Provide facts
be culturally sensitive
joint problem solving
help manage if they have problems that need to be sliced
Adulthood and Understanding of death
Early Adulthood = Avoidance
death anxiety
death considered distant
Middle Adulthood - begin to think of death
aware of limited time left to live
focus on tasks to be completed
people around you start dying, you start attending funerals
Late Adulthood = think and talk of death more
practical concern about how and when
Death Anxiety
Document Summary
Phases of dying: agonal phasre su ering in rst moments body can no longer support life gasps of air or muscle contractions, clinical death heart, breathing, brain stopped, but still can resuscitate, mortality permanent death. 1/4 poepie die suddenly and 3/4 die slowly due to medical technologies. De ning dying brain death all activity in brain and brain stem stopped irreversible. Persistent vegetative state activity in cerebral cortex stopped brain stem still active. Children"s understand of death - the beginning of the understanding of death most develop adult like concept of death by middle childhood (7-10) majority have not had a con ict with death and adults are reluctant to talk about it. Factors that a ect understanding experience with death religious teaching candid, sensitive discussion with adults children with better grasp of what death and dying is will be able to cope with it better later in life. Adolescents" understanding of death do not take death personally.
