Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSWO 670 – Grief, Loss, Death, and Dying in Social Work Practice, Fall A, 2023

Credits - 3

Description

An interdisciplinary course on death and dying, we will explore the death system, funerals, economic considerations of death, care of the dying and the bereaved of all ages, psychological dynamics dealing with the death, and ultimate questions in relationship to death and bereavement. The course will examine the basic principles of palliative care, bereavement and grief in all age groups, suicide and grief, issues around refugee and immigrant experience with death, various philosophical and religious understandings of death, meaning of life, ethical issues related to the care of the dying and the bereaved. We will explore the nature of grief and loss, the personal characteristics of effective practitioners, communication skills used in practice, the goals and techniques of practice with people who are grieving, approaches to helping those who are dying, and specific interventions that are helpful to bereaved clients in cases of prolonged grief, mourning a child or those whose deaths were stigmatized or unanticipated. Students will explore their own personal, cultural, and spiritual experiences, beliefs and values around death and dying.

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

School of Social Work Program Outcomes:

Graduates of the UNE SSWO will demonstrate knowledge, skills, and leadership in the following:

1. Practice social inclusion to enable people, populations, and communities to fully participate in society, enhance human bonds in the context of cultural diversity and ensure improved quality of life and equitable resource distribution. EPAS Competencies 2 & 3
2. Engage in culturally-informed relationship building, being respectful of the complexity and diversity of contexts and circumstances. EPAS Competencies 3 & 6
3. Utilize theories of human behavior, social systems and social inclusion when offering interventions with people and their environments. EPAS Competency 8
4. Promote ethical reflection, critical consciousness and shared decision-making based in social work values and with consideration of the broader contexts of the world in which we live. EPAS Competency 1
5. Balance the roles of helpers, activists, and advocates through collaboration with communities to build healthy and sustainable resources. EPAS Competencies 2, 5, & 6
6. Engage as critical consumers and producers of research as it relates to assessment, intervention and evaluation of clinical and community practices. EPAS Competencies 4, 7, 8 & 9
7. Practice person-centered and collaborative community partnerships across diverse settings. EPAS Competency 6

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this course, students will:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of palliative, end-of-life care and bereavement principles and practices and how they are influenced by differential and development factors across the life course, and also individualized according to each patient and family; Program Outcomes 1, 2, 3 EPAS 2, 8
2. Demonstrate knowledge of how definitions of health (e.g., culture of medicine, WHO definition of health) influence approaches to palliative, end-of-life and bereavement practices as well as how they impact disparities across class and culture in gaining access to quality of life care; Program Outcomes 3 EPAS 2
3. Apply a range of cross-disciplinary theories of grief and loss to practice with grieving clients and utilize advanced knowledge of relational and empowering theories for practice with individuals, families, and communities faced with circumstances of loss, death and grief, and with health care organizations that deliver services to this diverse population; Program Outcomes 1, 2, 3 EPAS 6, 8 
4. Apply knowledge, skills and cultural humility with dying and grieving clients and families that are sensitive to their diverse beliefs and customs associated with death, loss, and grieving; Program Outcomes 1, 2 EPAS 2
5. Apply knowledge of medical ethics and decision-making methods for examining ethical dilemmas that surface in end-of-life and palliative care, and with grieving clients and families; Program Outcomes 6 EPAS 1
6. Demonstrate competent, empathic and culturally sensitive communication skills for having difficult conversations with seriously ill and dying clients and their families, and with grievers; Program Outcomes 1, 2, 5 EPAS 2
7. Demonstrate self-reflective practice evidenced by the capacity to identify, explain, and reevaluate underlying assumptions, values and beliefs that affect work with dying and grieving client systems; Program Outcomes 4, EPAS 1
8. Demonstrate knowledge of the value of interdisciplinary teams in palliative care and end-of-life practice including appreciation for the different and complementary knowledge, skills and values of other health caregivers; Program Outcomes 7 EPAS 1, 8

Assignments

Art and Reflection Assignment Journals

There will be two types of journals in this course, comprising 3 assignments. 

Art Journal: Death & Grief Depiction (Weeks 2 and 8), (EPAS 3, 8)

During Weeks 2 and 8, you will complete an art project that depicts “what death looks like.” This can be of any creative expression or form, such as an abstract or pictorial drawing, painting, poetry, collage, musical composition, video, etc, and must be your own original work, created specifically for this class. 

Potential Materials Needed Depending on Choice of Art Form: 

• A blank sketchbook, poster board
• Felt tip pens, colored pencils, oil pastels, crayons; clay
• Use oil pastels if you wish to be able to blend colors on the page, smearing them with your fingers. You can also lay one color over another for a vibrant, intense effect. Felt-tip pens are good too. Chalk pastels are quick and soft in hue but get pretty messy in a notebook.
• Depending on your selected medium, you may also choose to use a video camera and recorder, musical instrument, or any other item to help capture and showcase your artistic expression

Reflective Journal Entry: Letter-Writing (Week 6) (EPAS 8, 9)

Therapeutic letter-writing has been proven by research to be a highly effective and cathartic means of processing and working through emotions of any kind. One particular grief therapy technique that is commonly given to clients who are presenting with grief and loss issues as a homework assignment is to write a letter to the deceased loved one. This is intended to help clients facilitate their grief, process their painful emotions, make meaning of their grief experience, communicate messages, thoughts, and feelings to the deceased that may or may not have been spoken when he/she was alive, and help with the integration of the loss. This can be a very powerful exercise and will need lots of time in therapy to process.

Fictional Case Formulation and Analysis Paper, Parts 1 and 2 (Due in Week 3 and Week 7), (EPAS 3, 4, 7, 8)

For the first part of this assignment, you will visit a cemetery and take a photo of a gravestone of your choosing. If you are unable to visit a cemetery, please speak with your faculty member to come up with an alternate way for you to meet the requirements of this assignment. It should be the gravestone of someone who has passed away, from any era in time, about whom you do not know anything. You will then write a fictional story about this deceased individual and a loved one who has sought you out to be their counselor for grief therapy. In your story, you will write background information about the deceased individual’s life as you imagine it, your fictional client’s relationship with the deceased, and the narrative/storyline leading up to the individual’s dying. You’ll also write about your client’s grief experience, utilizing insights gleaned from what you’ve learned so far in the class about the psychology of grief/loss, including but not limited to your client’s emotional reactions, meanings attributed to the loss, signs, and symptoms experienced, systemic impacts of the loss, etc. Please attach a photo of the gravestone you visited with your paper. Please include a commentary section in which you briefly share what your personal experience was like visiting the cemetery, including any insights, triggers, memories, and takeaways that emerged from your visit and/or from completing this assignment. (4-5 pages in length)

For the second part of the assignment, you will select one grief therapy technique and conduct your own research using the optional textbooks or scholarly journal articles. You will describe the tenets of the selected grief therapy technique and its application in clinical treatment. Explain why this particular technique resonates with you and how you can see it being impactful. You will then provide your clinical impressions about the client’s presentation you wrote about in Part 1 using your knowledge about assessment and then demonstrate how you would apply your chosen grief therapy technique with your client via either transcript style or elaborate description of how you’d administer the strategy in a session. (6-8 pages in length)

All readings must be APA cited and included in your reference list. You may cite articles other than those chosen to discuss that reinforce or contradict your choices.

Weekly Discussions

For most weeks there will be one discussion. In weeks 1, 4, and 5, there will be two discussions. For all discussions, cite the readings and multimedia in the module and additional references as needed to support your initial post and responses to your peers.

Your first post must respond to the prompt.  The second and third posts should be reactions to classmates’ postings and should deepen the discussion. Also check back in to your own thread throughout the week to engage with those who responded to your initial post. The goal is for everyone to be actively engaged in this conversation.

Grading Policy

The School of Social Work uses the following grading system for all courses with the exception of field education courses. Students are expected to maintain a “B” (3.0) average over the course of their study. Students with less than a GPA of 3.0 will be placed on academic probation. Students must have an overall GPA of 3.0 in order to receive their Master’s Degree.

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Assignment	Point Value	Percent of final grade
Acknowledgement of Academic Engagement	1 point	1%
Discussions	44 points (11 discussions x 4 points each)	44%
Week 2 Art Journal: Death & Grief Depiction	8 points	8%
Week 3 Fictional Case Formulation and Analysis Paper Part 1	15 points	15%
Week 6 Reflective Journal: Letter Writing	9 points	9%
Week 7 Fictional Case Formulation and Analysis Paper Part 2	15 points	15%
Week 8 Art Journal: Death & Grief Depiction	8 points	8%
Total	100 points	100%

Grade Scale

Grade	Points Grade	Point Average (GPA)
A	94 – 100%	4.00
A-	90 – 93%	3.75
B+	87 – 89%	3.50
B	84 – 86%	3.00
B-	80 – 83%	2.75
C+	77 – 79%	2.50
C	74 – 76%	2.00
C-	70 – 73%	1.75
D	64 – 69%	1.00
F	00 – 63%	0.00