Curricular Unit:			Code:
Mourning and Terminal Phase of Life			1006LFTV
Year:	Level:	Course:	Credits:
2	CTSP	Gerontology and Community Intervention	5 ects
Learning Period:		Language of Instruction:	Total Hours:
Winter Semester		Portuguese/English	65
Learning Outcomes of the Curricular Unit:
To develop the students global and comprehensive knowledge about the psychology of ageing and promote their expertise on the themes of grief, loss and death. It is intended to provide students with skills of analysis, evaluation and monitoring of psychobiological processes of aging in order to act in accordance with the principles of Gerontology and Geriatrics and aiming at the well-being of the elderly, healthy or not. It is intended to promote the skills and the ability to communicate with elderly individuals, their families and other caregivers, in order to facilitate student’s integration into multidisciplinary teams.
Syllabus:
1. Communication in health 1.1. Peculiarities of communication in situations of fragility/disease 2. The process of grieving 2.1. Life as a process. 1.1.2. The life-cycle model 1.2.3. Stages of Adult development 2.2. Main models of understanding of grief 2.2.1. Multiple definitions of grief 2.2.2. Templates defined in stages 2.2.3. Templates defined skills 2.3. impact of grief in various areas of human life 2.4. The experience of grief: 2.4.1. In childhood 2.4.2. In adolescence 2.4.3. Into adulthood 2.4.4. In the third age 2.4.4.1. Particularities of the mourning in 3rd and 4th ages 2.5. Brain, face and the emotion 2.6. How to intervene in the grieving process in various stages of life 3. The process of death 3.1. The Man, Disease and Death 3.2. Several ways of conceptualizing death 3.3. The chronic illness and terminal disease 3.4. Palliative care 3.4.1. History of palliative care 3.4.2. The concept of palliative care 3.4.3. The conditions of empathy, comfort and dignity
Demonstration of the Syllabus Coherence with the Curricular Unit's Objectives:
The contents were defined by selecting themes that being crucial as basic elements for learning, also fulfill the requirements laid down in the organization of the course’s curricular structure. Choosing themes such as communication in health and disease, developing the theme of grief and the relationship with death (including end-of-life care) it was intended to create conditions to integrate knowledge, skills and competences in a coherent framework
Teaching Methodologies (Including Evaluation):
Use of role play in all modules, but with particular emphasis on the communication one. Use of films and videos for analysis and discussion on classroom context. Oral presentation of more theoretical materials.
Demonstration of the Coherence between the Teaching Methodologies and the Learning Outcomes:
Being the course attended by relatively young students the confrontation with the themes of grief and death can be facilitated by the use of narratives in video or film, keeping the emotional distance that may be needed. The use of role play in the communication module facilitates the direct practice of the desired knowledge, skills and competences.
Reading:
Freitas-Magalhães, A. (2021). O luto: o cérebro, a face e a emoção. Porto: FEELab Science Books. Gabriel, S., Paulino, M., & Baptista, T. (Coord.) (2021). Luto: manual de intervenção psicológica. Lisboa: Pastor. Gross, R. (2018). The Psychology of Grief. London: Routledge. O’Connor, M-F. (2019). Grief: A brief history of research on how body, mind, and brain adapt. Psychosom Med, 81, 731-738. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000717. Pereira, M. (2021). O luto no Século 21: Uma compreensão abrangente do fenómeno. São Paulo. Summus Editorial.
Lecturer (* Responsible):
Freitas-Magalhães (fm@ufp.edu.pt)