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Death Notification: Breaking the Bad News With Concern for the Professional and Compassion for the Survivor a Seminar for Clergy and Funeral Directors

NCJ Number
162362
Author(s)
J H Lord; S Frogge
Date Published
1996
Length
162 pages
Annotation
This is a program for planning a death notification seminar for clergy and funeral directors.
Abstract
The document suggests that seminar organizers contact funeral directors, clergy, hospital and police chaplains to determine the necessity for training in death notification. If training is needed, organizers should gain the support of the local police chiefs, the president of the ministerial alliance, the president of the Funeral Directors' Association and local (or state) religious leaders. The seminar should include a panel of victims willing to share their personal experiences, some who felt death notification had been done appropriately and some who felt it had been done poorly. The panel should be diversified in terms of race, gender and relationship to the person who was killed. The document contains suggestions on how to reach adult audiences; technical suggestions on how to make effective flip charts and transparencies; overheads and handouts. In addition to information on the primary topic, the seminar curriculum includes materials on crisis responder stress, post-traumatic stress disorder and secondary traumatization which may be useful for mental health counselors and victim advocates. Bibliography