The effectiveness of a short curriculum unit in death education for dietetic students

Dietetic educators are concerned with preparing their students to interact effectively with seriously/terminally ill patients in clinical settings. In this study, a short death education curriculum unit including multi-media teaching materials was designed, implemented, and evaluated. The subjects were 47 junior students enrolled in three coordinated programs. Instruments were adopted or adapted to assess the following items: knowledge of the grief process, personality traits of empathy and dogmatism, fear of death, fear of interacting with the dying, attitudes toward working with terminally ill clients as part of the professional role of dietitians, and clinical performance. Scores for the traits of empathy and dogmatism were negatively related, and students with a higher degree of religious conviction had lower death fear scores. Although no significant changes were found in any of the attitude scores after the curriculum unit, most students indicated that the unit made them feel more comfortable about working with the seriously ill. Students and faculty recommended that death education be included for dietetic students.