Thanatology, Faith Communities, End of Life, and Grief Support Graduate Certificate

The leaders within faith communities often find themselves unprepared for supporting families at the end of life. This certificate offers faith community leaders the information they need to better understand the challenges families face when a family member is dying; and how to best support families in grief.

Learning Objectives:

• Discern, reflect upon, and evaluate student’s own relationship with death and grief, both as an individual and a member of society
• Examine best practices in end-of-life care and grief support
• Examine and evaluate the role of the family as the unit of care, and the ways family dynamics impact children and adolescents with respect to dying, death, and grief.
• Explore the ethical and moral challenges and dilemmas faced during the dying process and at the end of life
• Examine the notion of “total pain” as coined by Dame Cicely Saunders, and how spiritual care can inform compassionate care for the dying and the grieving.