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An introduction to death, dying and grief
An introduction to death, dying and grief

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Conclusion

Congratulations on reaching the end of this free course, An introduction to death, dying and grief. You started the course by looking at how there are different understandings of death and you considered how language shapes and conveys our ideas and beliefs about death. You then moved on to examining a ‘good death’ in the West and the aspects of the experience that are important for it to be a good death. In Section 3, you considered the debate around assisted dying and learned about the complexity of the debate by considering your own personal values as well as others. In Section 4, you were introduced to ethical dilemmas and the challenge of navigating what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ in a consistent way. In the final section, you learned about private and public expressions of grief and bereavement and how popular culture can affect and influence expressions of grief.

We hope that you enjoyed learning about this complex and interesting subject. This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course K220 Death, dying and bereavement [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

If you have been affected by the topics raised in this course, you can call Macmillan Cancer Support free of charge on 0808 808 00 00. You can also call Samaritans free from any phone on 116 123 (it will not appear on your phone bill), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find details of your nearest branch. The Motor Neurone Disease Association also provides support to people affected by motor neurone disease in England, Wales and NI - 03457 626262 or visit The Motor Neurone Disease Association