Changes in Postmortem Identity and Grief.

This article reviews the concept of postmortem identity, noting its relationships to other concepts such as relational trauma. Identity is a very fluid concept that can change even after an individual's death as new information becomes available or even as social values change. Such modifications of postmortem identity can affect the course of bereavement-complication reactions to loss.

Hannelore Wass: Death Education--An Enduring Legacy.

Hannelore Wass's enduring contribution to the field of thanatology focused on death education In addition to developing a journal initially focused on that topic, Wass also created one of the first text books in the field. This article explores the factors that caused death education to emerge in the late 1960s as well as issues that death education still faces as it continues to evolve.

Publication Trends in Thanatology: An Analysis of Leading Journals.

To identify important trends in thanatology as a discipline, the authors analyzed over 1,500 articles that appeared in Death Studies and Omega over a 20-year period, coding the category of articles (e.g., theory, application, empirical research), their content focus (e.g., bereavement, death attitudes, end-of-life), and for empirical studies, their methodology (e.g., quantitative, qualitative). In general, empirical research predominates in both journals, with quantitative methods outnumbering qualitative procedures 2 to 1 across the period studied, despite an uptick in the latter methods in recent years. Purely theoretical articles, in contrast, decline in frequency. Research on grief and bereavement is the most commonly occurring (and increasing) content focus of this work, with a declining but still substantial body of basic research addressing death attitudes. Suicidology is also well represented in the corpus of articles analyzed. In contrast, publications on topics such as death education, medical ethics, and end-of-life issues occur with lower frequency, in the latter instances likely due to the submission of such work to more specialized medical journals. Differences in emphasis of Death Studies and Omega are noted, and the analysis of publication patterns is interpreted with respect to overall trends in the discipline and the culture, yielding a broad depiction of the field and some predictions regarding its possible future.

Introduction to special issue: Robert Jay Kastenbaum (1932-2013).

The three pieces in this section introduce the Festschrift celebrating the works and influence of Omega: Journal of Death and Dying's founding editor, Robert Kastenbaum. Robert Fulton, an early Associate Editor of the Journal begins with some personal reflections on Kastenbaum. Klass and Doka then describe the nature of the Festschrift. A closing coda by Robert Kastenbaum's wife, Beatrice Kastenbaum, reminds us of the person behind the work.

The awareness of mortality: continuing Kastenbaum's developmental legacy.

Kastenbaum's work had a strong developmental perspective. In fact, one of his first pieces explored the ways that adolescents experienced death. This article continues Kastenbaum's developmental perspective by considering the ways that a personal sense of mortality generally develops in adulthood as mid-life adults face the deaths of parents and peers as well as the inevitable signs of senescence.

A call to the field: complicated grief in the DSM-5.

While complicated grief has been addressed in part through some recommendations for modifications in the upcoming fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), there remain reasons for substantial concern about its scope therein and within clinical practice. The authors issue a call to the field, reiterating that complicated grief is complicated and cannot be confined to just one syndrome or disorder. Continued research is urged, and specific caveats are identified for exploring the complex dimensions of loss and grief. The authors advocate for ongoing dialogue about and investigation of various potential forms of complicated grief.

The organization of thanatology.

This article explores, using Wilensky's Model of Professionalization, the emergence of professional organizations within the thanatology. The authors review the history of four organizations--The Foundation of Thanatology, Ars Moriendi, The Forum for Death Education and Counseling (now the Association for Death Education and Counseling: A Thanatology Organization [ADEC]), and The International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement (IWG). The authors speculate on some of the reasons that the first two failed while IWG and ADEC remain viable-while noting challenges that these remaining thanatological organizations will experience as they seek to continue to stay relevant.

Religion and spirituality: assessment and intervention.

In this article, the author explores the ways that an individual's spirituality influences responses to life-threatening illness and dying. He begins by differentiating between religion and spirituality, and then delineates the spiritual issues that arise in a life-threatening illness including the spiritual needs that arise in the final phases of illness. Recommendations for spiritual assessments and interventions are offered.

An internet tool to normalize grief.

This research evaluated the efficacy of a psycho-educational Internet self-help tool to educate and support recently (1-6 months) bereaved individuals. The goal of the website was to help users normalize their grief to enhance their adaptive adjustment. A randomized controlled trial evaluated the gains in social cognitive theory constructs and state anxiety. Compared to the control group (N = 34), treatment participants (N = 33) reported significant multivariate gains (eta-square = .191). Significant program effects were obtained on all three outcome measures: attitude (eta-square = .177), self-efficacy (eta-square = .106), and state anxiety (eta-square = .083). These findings suggest the potential efficacy of an Internet-based grief support tool to enhance adaptive adjustment of the bereaved.

Grief: the constant companion of illness.

This article describes the grieving process. It begins by delineating the nature of grief, noting the ways that grief may be experienced in both sudden loss and in more protracted illness and then explores the nature and process of grief, reviewing current models and research on the experience of mourning. Finally, the discussion examines the research on caregiver grief, noting that grief in health care professionals is often disenfranchised, yet the holistic treatment of individuals with disease begins with an acknowledgment that loss is a constant companion to illness, for patients, families, and health care professionals alike.

The Florida Clergy End-of-Life Education Enhancement Project: a description and evaluation.

The Florida Clergy End-of-Life Education Enhancement Project was a model program developed to provide an interdenominational and statewide model of clergy education on loss, grief dying, and death. The authors describe the project including materials and curriculum as well as present data from the project's evaluation. Clergy and their partners in ministry responded enthusiastically to the project. As a whole, they reported higher levels of knowledge on end-of-life (EOL) issues at the conclusion of the training. Clergy and their ministerial teams also reported that they were better informed about the technical, procedural, medical, and legal issues that arise at the end of life and expressed the desire for subsequent training. The project indicates that clergy both recognize the need for additional training and are anxious to improve their abilities to minister to the dying and bereaved. The model presented here could easily be applied to local organizations such as hospices or denominational training.

Estimating goodwill: an application of Pine's procedures for hospices.

Hospice care is a philosophy as well as a business. As a business, especially in the current healthcare environment, it is subject to many of the same forces that affect other businesses, such as acquisitions, sales, and mergers. Yet, estimating the value of a hospice is problematic, since its most valued asset (the reputation and goodwill that it has generated within the communities it serves) is intangible. This article explores the problem of assessing the value of a hospice, applying Pine's model for estimating goodwill in funeral service as a useful approach for hospices. The article offers assumptions for assessment and examples of suggested approaches.