Perspective on Death Education and for grief counselors. I present some overall conclusions about the place and state of death education today, based in par rt on a review of aspects of death education not included in this article. However I have listed references not cited in this text that i recommend for an extensive review of death education. The conclusions I offer come from the van- tage point of a person who has lived as these developments occurred and who has, for better or worse, contributed in some part to this history There have been considerable advances in knowledge pertinent to care the end of life, contributing to the understanding of dying persons nd their loved ones. Application of this understanding in education has mproved the quality of care provided in a variety of health care settings, hospices in particular, but also including hospitals and homes. Promising developments are underway in education and program development focusing on care in neglected clinical settings(e.g, intensive care units nd for neglected populations (e.g, African Americans in urban and rural communities, and residents in prisons). They are important steps toward achieving equity in the care of dying persons The development and increasing use of counseling and ce services to organizations and agencies involved in emergency to terror attacks, plane crashes, multiple murders, and natural cata strophes is a substantial achievement in the area of grief counseling Likewise, crisis intervention programs in the public schools have been offered for public school students, including attempts to introduce long term suicide prevention(e.g, Leenaars Wenckstern, 1991; Stevenson, 1994) Nonetheless, death education for health professionals and death edu cation for grief counselors are of considerable concern. It is important however, to keep in mind Feifel's(1982)observation that we are embedded in our time and culture.. each generation contends with the presence of death--raging against it, embracing it, attempting to domesticate it. and. at the same time. his further observation that although we are more knowledgeable and realistic about death. there is a persisting avoidance. There are numerous indications of avoidance and ambivalence in our current death system as well. Breath-taking advances in medical and biological sciences, such as genetics, genomics, on"Death in Contemporary America"to the American sychological Association in 1981 and presented the proceedings in a special issue of Death Educa tion which he guest-edited in 1982, 6(2).and for grief counselors. I present some overall conclusions about the place and state of death education today, based in part, on a review of aspects of death education not included in this article. However I have listed references not cited in this text that I recommend for an extensive review of death education. The conclusions I offer come from the van￾tage point of a person who has lived as these developments occurred and who has, for better or worse, contributed in some part to this history. There have been considerable advances in knowledge pertinent to care at the end of life, contributing to the understanding of dying persons and their loved ones. Application of this understanding in education has improved the quality of care provided in a variety of health care settings, hospices in particular, but also including hospitals and homes. Promising developments are underway in education and program development focusing on care in neglected clinical settings (e.g., intensive care units) and for neglected populations (e.g., African Americans in urban and rural communities, and residents in prisons). They are important steps toward achieving equity in the care of dying persons. The development and increasing use of counseling and consulting services to organizations and agencies involved in emergency response to terror attacks, plane crashes, multiple murders, and natural cata￾strophes is a substantial achievement in the area of grief counseling. Likewise, crisis intervention programs in the public schools have been offered for public school students, including attempts to introduce long￾term suicide prevention (e.g., Leenaars & Wenckstern, 1991; Stevenson, 1994). Nonetheless, death education for health professionals and death edu￾cation for grief counselors are of considerable concern. It is important, however, to keep in mind Feifel’s (1982)4 observation that ‘‘we are embedded in our time and culture ... each generation contends with the presence of death
raging against it, embracing it, attempting to domesticate it’’, and, at the same time, his further observation that although we are more knowledgeable and realistic about death, there is a persisting avoidance. There are numerous indications of avoidance and ambivalence in our current death system as well. Breath-taking advances in medical and biological sciences, such as genetics, genomics, 4 Feifel organized a symposium on ‘‘Death in Contemporary America’’ to the American Psychological Association in 1981 and presented the proceedings in a special issue of Death Educa￾tion which he guest-edited in 1982, 6(2). Perspective on Death Education 291