Death is a Natural Process: Statement of The Problem

There are a lot of attitudes that have been brought about through the centuries about death, and the dying. Death is a natural process, and many still fear it. People can fill many roles while caring for the patient, while they are dying, and the dying goes through many stages before the event occurs. There may be initial denial at first, with final acceptance when the final event occurs, and in moments of grief, the person may attempt to discover the meaning of life as well as death to see the wider, dimensions of why we exist? This may come from a religious upbringing, so they may try to get comfort while they can before they die. They may go through denial at first, and then acceptance or they may just deny the topic altogether, which may help them to cope with the topic at first. When they are preparing to die, they are having a conflict going on inside themselves by just wanting to live, and by having this conflict, they may be having other outside conflicts going on as well with their environment to deal with.

Many people hold the view that we as an individual don’t end with death, that it’s only the beginning, and that the body is like a case that holds the soul, which inhabits it. There is a death practice called Code Krishna, which creates a basic atmosphere for the dying patient that is calm and bridges the gap between the realistic world and the non- realistic world that helps the dying patient and their families. It also helps with religious, and spiritual beliefs the family may have, and pays respects for the departed patient’s soul.

Purpose of the Study

By talking to our children about death, we may discover what they know and do not know and if they have misconceptions, fears, or worries. We help them by providing needed comfort, information, and understanding. Talking doesn’t solve everything, however without a discussion, we are even more limited in our ability to help them.

Research Questions/Hypothesis:

1. What kind of photos may relieves the patient’s anxiety?
2. What kind of cultural background does the family have?
3. How does a picture of Jesus make the child feel?
4. What kind of religion does the family believe?

If a child is exposed to religion , this it will a help a child cope with their own death at the end.

I want to do a standardized structured interview, as well as the Quality of Dying and Death questionnaire with the child and patients in a hospital environment. I want to also include talk about the quality of medical care received and talk about the family’s religious belief’s. I will get informed consents for the children from the parents, and I will get it without coercion. I want to do it in the children’s room, due to privacy issues. The child will be informed that some parts of the study need not be disclosed.

Due to Reliability issues, I will have the children to draw some pictures as well, but this is problems with biases in interpretation and interrater reliability. Language barriers can also be a problem for children to communicate their thoughts and understanding.

Samples;

My samples will come from the children’s center at West Virginia University Hospital in WV, ages 6 yrs old to 14 yrs old and ones who been diagnosed with cancer for more than one month, or know about their disease, and are accompanied by a parent or adult who would consent their participation.

Analysis techniques:

The nurses and healthcare workers can prepare for the psychosocial and spiritual conditions of the children by looking at the participants' expression to determine the level of psychological need and condition for the patient: By observing the child, the child can see if the family is comfortable with their prognosis or not.

Limitations

Recall bias must be taken into account, some parent may lose their child years before the study is done, and we all know that time can mess up the way thing may have happened, even if we think that we have remembered them perfectly. Some people also does not like to recall unpleasant memories, and we have to take that into account, or go back to a place that bad things has happened.

Future research

Younger children may be experience a distancing phenomenon with the death because they have the inability to cope with their emotions or their parents when dealing with their diagnosis. I feel that younger children does not have the opportunity to have as much exposure to death as older children, and it’s not their fault. I believe that cultural differences may be the reason for that. I believe that this area is a big area that needs to be explored, and studied to find out how each society may help our young counter parts to understand death, and to help them accept it with more ease, if face with it. Maybe, the reason younger children may lack the concept of what death really means is that is that it being final is linked to very strong negative emotions about the death of a loved one in more mature individuals, and very often than not, many children will talk about the issue without too much effort without it being discussed, showing that it is not far from their minds and that they do think about it on their own. Many, pediatric patients are less able to develop a good understanding on the topic if there is a disconnect between the healthcare team, and parents about the prognosis, even when there is no cure in sight. Insufficient communication and poor understanding for the child may increase the risk of the children feeling isolated, mistrustful/ anxious, and deprive them of a good person they can share these feelings with. Despite all, children and young people often show remarkable resiliency in the face of death and want to fight with all they have with the remaining time they have left.