Undergraduate

Death and dying

On this page

• What you will study
• Entry
• If you have a disability or additional requirement
• Study materials
• Teaching and assessment
• Professional recognition
• Students also studied
• Future availability

This is an exciting and revolutionary course in which you’ll engage with real issues based on the experiences of dying people, bereaved people, those who work with them, and their carers, both lay and professional.  This course will be of interest for anyone who works with dying people and their families or students who want to find out more about death, dying and bereavement, and what these mean in different contexts.

Course facts

Register for the course

This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees and financial support may vary by country.

What you will study

This fascinating course is underpinned by the following key themes:

• difference and diversity in attitudes and responses to death, dying, disposal and bereavement
• the rhetoric and reality of end-of-life care, and the limitations of care resources
• the extent to which death, dying and bereavement have become medicalised and professionalised
• the ethical nature of end-of -life decisions
• the social dimensions that impact upon experiences at the time of death and afterwards.

This course is divided into four blocks and the units in each block are equal to one week of study.

In Block 1– Society and death and dying you will consider how views of death have changed over time and the ways in which contemporary Western societies view and respond to death and dying. Central to this exploration is the extent to which public views and private experiences are in a dynamic relationship with each other. The rate, cause and place of death are illustrated through individual accounts that highlight the realities beneath the statistics for both service users and providers.

In Block 2 – End-of-life care in practice you will explore the ways in which the hospice movement has achieved its goals in providing good quality end-of-life care to all who need it and the challenges to this goal. You will also consider where care takes place and the role of carers in providing end-of-life care at home. The block also offers a critique of the theories that underpin communication and considers its central role at the end of life and after death.

Block 3 – Grief and bereavement keeps bereavement and mourning practices as its central theme to examine grief in different contexts. The block begins with a critique of theories of grief and moves on to explore experiences of individual and collective grief before considering the ways in which death is memorialised and commemorated and how this in turn contributes to the way that death is framed in society.

Block 4 – Decision making at end of life takes an ethical view of many of the decisions that face people at the end of life. You will be introduced to ethical theories that play a significant role in these decisions and consider adults’ and children’s rights at the end of life. As with the previous three blocks the study material is enriched by experiential case studies that provide the real context in which you can explore such issues and challenges.

The relevance of these ideas to reality is central to this course.

Entry

The course does not assume that you have done any study or had any experience beyond that which we all have in our lives: exposure to death, dying and bereavement. Our Level 1 course An introduction to health and social care (K101) would be ideal preparation.

If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.

On a more personal level, the course authors and tutors are greatly concerned to support students in sensitive aspects of the subject of death and dying, but please remember that your tutor is not there to help you with bereavement. The course cannot fulfil that function, though we hope that this will not deter dying or bereaved people from taking the course.

Preparatory work

You will receive guidance of how to get started online in your first course mailing. This will provide you with information on using your computer for OU study and working with the Computing Guide. For example, it explains how to access and use your website and online discussion forums. If you have time before the course starts, you can work through this and explore all the online services available to you.

If you have a disability or additional requirement

Written transcripts of any audio components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader. The printed study material is available in a comb-bound format and in the DAISY Digital Talking Book format. Other alternative formats of the study materials may be available in the future. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.

If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our publication Meeting Your Needs.

You can also find information about accessible study materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.

Study materials

What's included

Course books, other printed materials, a DVD and CDs. You will have access to a website through which teaching and library resources are available. Electronic versions of most of the printed study materials are provided on the website.

You will need

A DVD/CD player.

Computing requirements

This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave.

You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new computer since 2005 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual.

Teaching and assessment

Support from your tutor

You will have a tutor who will help you with the study material and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. We may also be able to offer group tutorials or day schools that you are encouraged to attend. Where your tutorials are held will depend on the distribution of students taking the course. Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.

Assessment

The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.

You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper.

The end-of-module assessment (EMA) must be submitted online. Assessment is an essential part of the teaching, so you are expected to complete it all.

Professional recognition

This course can make a significant contribution to the continuing professional development of nursing practitioners. This is also one of a set of modules that together constitute an approved programme that leads to a DipSW qualification or our social work degrees. It may also help you to gain recognition from a professional body. This course has been mapped against the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework. It has also been mapped to the Core Competencies for End of Life Care which support the National End of Life Care Strategy.

Students also studied

Students who studied this course also studied at some time:

• An introduction to health and social care (K101)
• Challenging ideas in mental health (K272)
• Managing care (K303)
• Counselling: exploring fear and sadness (D240)
• Working for health (K203)

Future availability

The details given here are for the course that starts in February 2013. It will be available again in October 2013. We then expect it to be available once a year, in October.

Fees 2012

See fees and funding options for study from September 2012.

Study explained

Financial support

- find out if you qualify for support with your fees with our eligibility checker.

Study explained

- all you need to know about distance learning with the OU.

A taste of OU study

Student Reviews

I really enjoyed this course despite others trying to discredit it and moan about the assignments, the books, the content. ...
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Course satisfaction survey

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Your questions

We may have already answered it in our frequently asked questions.

Or contact an adviser in our Student Registration & Enquiry Service Email or call +44(0) 845 300 60 90+44(0) 845 366 60 35

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