DEATH AND DYING

Final Paper

Scaffold your paper around the following outline:

Title Page 

Introduction (half page)

• Describe the paper’s overall thesis.
• Provide an overview of main point.

Learning about Death

• Describe Americans’ avoidance of death and dying.
• Discuss research findings regarding perceptions of death from birth to 12 years of age.
• Examine the death taboo with respect to elderly.

Facing Death

• Describe the five stages of the dying process, as described by Kubler-Ross’s stages of the dying process.
• Based on the discussions in the textbook, evaluate what is considered to be an “appropriate death”?

Hospice

• Describe how a patient’s death represents a failure to a physician, how can medical schools assist in creating an attitude of acceptance of death as the final stage of growth?
• Evaluate the film A Death of One’s Own (Links to an external site.) (2000). Evaluate the controversial nature of the film and the challenge some dying American’s may face.
• Discuss what is meant by “patient-centered” care?
• Discuss palliative care, and how is it related to hospice care? How does it differ from the treatment given by most acute care hospitals?
• Discuss hospice care? How does it differ from the treatment given by most acute care hospitals? Identify the major functions of a hospice program.
• Discuss issues related to the family as a unit of care in hospice programs. How do hospices try to achieve quality of life for each “patient” they serve? How does the interdisciplinary hospice team concept help accomplish this?
• In your opinion, are the negative aspects of hospice care? How would you suggest they be rectified?

Euthanasia

• In the film, The Suicide Tourist (Links to an external site.) (2010), discuss the struggle for the family to support the patient’s wishes.
• How does one balance dying and dignity?
• In the end of the film suicide tourist did the patient die the way he wanted?

Grief and Loss

• Describe the seven stages of grieving can be applied to losses through divorce, moving from one place to another, or the amputation of a limb (arm or leg).
• Evaluate what might cause children to react differently to the death of a grandparent?

Conclusion

Separate Reference Page

The Final Paper

• Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must begin with an introductory paragraph (Links to an external site.).
• Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
• Must end with a conclusion (Links to an external site.) that reaffirms your research findings
• Must use at least eight scholarly sources, including a minimum of three from the Ashford University Library. Be sure to integrate the information from your sources instead of simply inserting it.
  • The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
  • While your textbook can be utilized as a source, it does not count towards your eight sources for this assignment.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
• Must include a separate references page (Links to an external site.) that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.