Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Setup and Execution of the Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice Death Notification Curriculum
Published on: August 5, 2020
How we involved bereaved family caregivers in palliative care education
Elaine M Wittenberg-Lyles1, Sara Shaunfield, Joy Goldsmith
1University of North Texas, Department of Communication Studies, Denton, Texas 76203-5268, USA. lyles@unt.edu
Unlabelled:
As palliative care coursework continues to proliferate within US medical education, novel curriculum approaches have included the use of cancer survivors and family caregivers. We included bereaved family caregivers in structured clinical teaching.
Methods:
First year students were exposed to a lecture about death and dying and then met with a bereaved caregiver in small groups of 10-15 for a presentation about the caregiving experience, bereavement, and question and answer period. Substantial pre-planning was involved to recruit caregivers and arrange for classroom space.
Results:
Participation evoked caregiver anxiety but was resolved with adequate arrangement of the classroom and student introductions.
Conclusions:
Future implementation of bereaved caregivers in palliative coursework should include an appropriate follow-up phone call as well as recruiting more caregivers than necessary for the curriculum.
Related Concept Videos
Continuing Care
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching II: Planning and Implementation
Patient-centered Care
Bonanno's Theory of Grieving
Resilience
The resilience...
Ethical Dilemmas II
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...