Thanatology, Faith Communities, End of Life, and Grief Support Post-Master’s Certificate

The leaders within faith communities often find themselves unprepared for supporting families at the end of life. This post-master’s 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.