Body of Knowledge in Thanatology

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Operational Definitions
Understanding the body of knowledge in death, dying and bereavement involves an understanding of Six Core Categories. These core categories must be understood in the context of 10 indicators within these categories:

Categories

• Dying Process: the physical, psychosocial and spiritual experience of facing death, living with terminal illness, the dying process, and caring for the terminally ill
• End-of-Life Decision-Making: the aspects of life-threatening illness and terminal illness that involve choices and decisions about actions to be taken, for individuals, families and professional caregivers
• Loss, Grief and Mourning: the physical, behavioral, cognitive and social experience of and reactions to loss, the grief process and practices surrounding grief and commemoration
• Assessment and Intervention: includes information gathered, decisions that are made and actions that are taken by professional caregivers to determine and/or provide for the needs of the dying, their loved ones and the bereaved
• Traumatic Death: sudden, violent, inflicted and/or intentional death, shocking encounters with death
• Death Education: Formal and informal methods for acquiring and disseminating knowledge about dying, death and bereavement

Indicators

• Cultural/Socialization: the influence of cultural/ethnic and social parameters on the experience of death and loss
• Religious/Spiritual: the relationship between religious and spiritual belief systems and the reaction to and coping with death
• Professional Issues:   factors that affect professionals' training, abilities and responsibilities in providing care
• Historical Perspectives: the historical context and historical changes that played a role in the death experience, and the theoretical paradigms in the field of thanatology up to 1980s
• Contemporary Perspectives: theoretical perspectives in death and dying and the factors that have influenced the perspectives from the 1980s to the present
• Life Span: the consideration of death and dying and developmental perspectives from infancy to old age
• Larger Systems: the social organizations beyond the individual and family that affect the experience of dying, death and grief
• Family and Individual: social, cognitive and physical encounters and interpretations of dying, death and loss from the standpoint of the person, and the group of people with a relational bond and long-term commitment who define themselves as “family”
• Resources and Research: involves materials, organizations and groups of individuals who facilitate knowledge acquisition; ideas and materials are based upon the findings of empirical research and theoretical synthesis that add to the knowledge base
• Ethical/Legal: Aspects of dying, death and/or loss that pertain generally to determination of right from wrong, and specifically to the principles of medical ethics; legal issues refer to the articulated laws of a society as they pertain to thanatology

Updated: July 26, 2007