Background: Children and young people with life-limiting conditions in palliative care often have some degree of intellectual disability. Literature about death communication with this patient group is limited. This study aimed to explore professionals' perspectives on death communication with children and young people with intellectual…

Having conversations about death and dying can be very difficult to initiate and engage in with others. The following activity, based on the card game The Death Deck, was designed to encourage students to engage with others about difficult conversations surrounding death and dying. The activity provides students with questions and prompts that…

Background: This study reports the process evaluation of the In-Dialogue conversation aid to facilitate shared decision-making with people with intellectual disabilities in the palliative phase. Methods: Training for In-Dialogue was evaluated by 53 support staff members through questionnaires. The use of In-Dialogue in four residential care…

Background: Wider communication about death and dying for those with intellectual disabilities has been highlighted as being of key importance. Objective: To gain the perspective of paid carers based in residential homes about meaningfully supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities in the bereavement process. Methods: Semi-structured…

Given the legacy of John Bowlby, Attachment theory has often portrayed separation from a caregiver as likely to provoke protest, despair, and ultimately detachment in infants and young children. Indeed, the emotional challenge of separation is built into a key measurement tool of Attachment theory, the Strange Situation. However, James Robertson,…

Supporting, caring for and working with bereaved children is both daunting and challenging, yet not much is known about how schools can help children to cope with death and dying. The main objective of this study was to identify approaches used to support children who are grieving, and to explore implications for teachers. The use of retrospective…

This study aims at describing in detail how university students in Turkey use euphemisms in their daily language usage. The description of the euphemisms in the study was made according to the linguistic formations of euphemisms defined by Warren and accepted in the literature. The euphemisms used by the participants were determined by asking them…

This single-class activity expands current literature on person-centered messages by providing attention to message quality in mediated contexts. Students begin the activity by reviewing a hypothetical scenario in which a friend has posted about a family death loss on social media. After reviewing this scenario, students then create sample…

The author argues that English teachers are in a unique position to respond to death through writing, reading, and speaking. She describes four experiences and offers specific, language-based responses guided by experience and literature.

The recent deaths of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and other Black males have generated new civil rights urgencies in Black communities and spirited academic discourses in higher education regarding the educational and social plight of Black males in America. Connecting the deaths of Black males to our lived experiences in the academy, we use a…

The number of children with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions in England is double what it was at the millennium. These conditions include cystic fibrosis, cancer, organ failure and severe neurological injuries. The Teaching for Life project aimed to explore the needs of teachers working in English schools in relation to working with…

Background: Many people with intellectual disabilities are affected by death, yet conversations about death are often avoided by staff working with them. This study aimed to assess staff training needs and to develop, trial and evaluate a training course on communicating about death and dying. Method:(i) Semi-structured interviews with 20 staff in…

Children experience grief and loss from death, divorce, parental incarceration, and similar situations of being placed in foster care or adoption. These youths may be challenged in recovery due to lacking the necessary life experience and coping skills. They may also lack the appropriate support networks to work through their grief as their…