Enhancing Existential Thinking through Death Education: A Qualitative Study among High School Students

Abstract

<jats:p>The censorship of death-related issues is widespread in contemporary Western culture because the boundary between death and life is substantially managed in medical areas. In the context of Italian educational initiatives, to remove this limitation, 215 high school students in Southern Italy were educated on death through conventional and informal lessons. The students answered a questionnaire with open questions to survey their emotional and reflective experiences. Their answers were qualitatively, thematically analysed to explore how the representation of death can follow a death education course, and if this experience can be managed without harmful effects. The students’ answers narrated how the course reduced their anxiety linked to these themes, on the one hand improving communication between peers by making it more authentic and empathic and, on the other, providing alternative perspectives on life. Indeed, the project offered an opportunity to discuss something strongly heartfelt but rarely faced, and the survey confirmed that the research objectives were fully achieved.</jats:p>

The Hospice as a Learning Environment: A Follow-Up Study with a Palliative Care Team

“…They considered these encounters to be very meaningful experiences. The professionals working in this specific healthcare field are able to provide a unique point of view on the topic of death, but they were not regarded as omniscient or omnipotent, rather, the teachers and students perceived them as ordinary human beings, thus dispelling the aura of mystery and terror linked to death-related themes [ 40 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ]. However, based on TMT and their DTA hypothesis, it is also possible that the language and coping skills learned through this program might serve to strengthen the aura of mystery surrounding death.…”

Students’ Confidence and Interest in Palliative and Bereavement Care: A European Study

“…Specifically, in countries where students have low or moderate religiosity (e.g., Austria, Italy, Israel) fostering profound contemplation of religious themes (death, the afterlife, spirituality, etc.) may facilitate the reduction of potentially deleterious death anxiety ( Testoni et al, 2020a ). Relatedly, to support diversity and a multicultural perspective, students should be given a comparative overview of death and dying in different religions ( McClatchey and King, 2015 ).…”

“Imagine You Have ALS”: Death Education to Prepare for Advance Treatment Directives

“…The term death education (DeEd) refers to a set of activities aimed at facilitating the understanding and acceptance of death within a postmodern and secularized cultural context in which this theme is censored and considered taboo, and death is confined to the hospital environment [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. These cultural transformations have produced the need to resume dialogue and reflect on death and related concerns since the avoidance of this topic, especially in Western societies, has become very common [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. DeEd responds to this need, as well as the need to promote reflections on existential issues, and it leads to the management of emotional difficulties related to loss, subsequently reaching a greater sense of control over the representations of death and the anxiety related to it [ 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”

“…DeEd responds to this need, as well as the need to promote reflections on existential issues, and it leads to the management of emotional difficulties related to loss, subsequently reaching a greater sense of control over the representations of death and the anxiety related to it [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. DeEd can be achieved at different levels of prevention: primary, secondary and tertiary [ 11 , 13 , 17 , 18 ]. DeEd as primary prevention, on which the study reported in this article is focused, is implemented in situations where there is no recent experience of death but the topic is addressed in a preventive way, focusing on sharing one’s emotional experiences and building an appropriate and shared language [ 19 , 20 ].…”

“…DeEd as primary prevention, on which the study reported in this article is focused, is implemented in situations where there is no recent experience of death but the topic is addressed in a preventive way, focusing on sharing one’s emotional experiences and building an appropriate and shared language [ 19 , 20 ]. Experiences of DeEd as primary prevention have shown that it does not produce negative effects but allows better management of related anxiety, decreases alexithymia, increases empathic understanding of others and approaches them by learning to understand their viewpoints and emotional experiences and to re-evaluate aspects of one’s life [ 13 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Starting from different multidisciplinary contexts, DeEd can be carried out through moments of “formal” theoretical lessons, combined with “informal” lessons that may include imaginative techniques and art therapy experiences such as photovoice, phototherapy, and psychodrama [ 13 , 18 , 19 , 22 , 23 ].…”