Deck 15: Understanding Death Dying and Bereavement

Question 1

The crisis of generativity versus stagnation brings the issue of mortality to center stage because

A) we are considering our impact on future generations.
B) if we are stagnant we may choose euthanasia.
C) death anxiety is increasing as we age.
D) all the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is one of the goals for high quality end-of-life care, according to the Hospice Education Institute?

A) Educate the relatives about proper death rituals.
B) Offer a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death.
C) Keep the patient from depending on pain medication.
D) Make sure the dying person makes a will.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The primary causes of death are different for people of different ages. What might a primary cause of death for 34-year-old Anna be?

A) Abuse
B) Smallpox
C) Starvation
D) Homicide

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following would authorize Darlene to act on behalf of her life partner about a financial or property matter as well as healthcare decisions?

A) Durable power of attorney
B) Living will
C) Surrogate decision maker
D) Directive of advice

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT an example of a dying trajectory?

A) Gradual decline
B) Ambiguous decline
C) Sudden decline
D) Ambivalent decline

Question 6

The primary causes of death are different for people of different ages. What might a primary cause of death be for 6-year old Aidan?

A) Heart disease
B) Cancer
C) Abuse
D) Diabetes

Question 7

Hospice has many advantages for those with a terminal illness. Which of the following is considered one of these advantages?

A) It has means available for treating the disease and intervening to delay the end of life.
B) It allows the person to die in a hospital setting.
C) It offers the opportunity of dying alone as friends and family are asked to leave.
D) It offers emotional, spiritual, and physical comfort, helping people experience a good death.

Question 8

The primary causes of death are different for people of different ages. What might a primary cause of death for 65-year-old Stephanie be?

A) A fire
B) Cerebral palsy
C) Abuse
D) Diabetes

Question 9

Theresa studies the science that addresses dying, death, and psychological mechanisms of coping with them. Which of the following does Theresa study?

A) Psychology
B) Thanatology
C) Deathology
D) Biology

Question 10

The discussion of topics related to death and dying became taboo as part of the

A) religious practices in early New England.
B) physician-assisted suicide movement.
C) psychosocial crisis of trust versus mistrust.
D) culture of death as medical failure.

Question 11

In the car accidnt, Wanda injured the area of her brain that controls sensory integration and cognitive functioning. What area of the brain has Wanda injured?

A) The cortex
B) The brainstem
C) The amygdala
D) The cerebellum

Question 12

In the case of Harriet McBryde Johnson, what is the dying trajectory?

A) Gradual
B) Ambiguous
C) Artificial
D) Sudden

Question 13

Although 70% of Americans say they would prefer to die _________, about 75% actually die _________.

A) at home; at work
B) with a will; intestate
C) at home; in a hospital
D) alone; with someone present

Question 14

According to Carr's research about spousal reactions to their partners' death, which of the following was associated with a good death?

A) Keeping the partner alive using heroic means
B) Having a religious leader with the partner at the moment of death
C) Believing the partner had led a full life and was at peace with the idea of dying
D) Feeling the partner was relieved from confusion and delirium

Question 15

What is NOT one of the advantages of hospice for those with a terminal illness?

A) It focuses on intensive treatment of the person's disease using all medical means available.
B) It prevents the experience of dying alone for those who do not have family and friends nearby.
C) It allows the person to die in a more natural, familiar setting rather than in a hospital or nursing home.
D) It offers emotional, spiritual, and physical comfort, helping more people experience a good death.

Question 16

What is the dying trajectory for someone who experiences the diagnosis of a terminal disease followed by several periods of illness and remission before death?

A) Stigmatized
B) Nonfatal
C) Ambiguous
D) Chronic

Question 17

Lack of a heartbeat is one of the criteria of which of the following?

A) Wilson's whole-brain death
B) Paula's pulmonary thanatosis
C) Cathy's cardiopulmonary death
D) Peter's persistent vegetative state

Question 18

The primary causes of death are different for people of different ages. What might a primary cause of death be for 16-year old Thomas?

A) An automobile accident
B) Diabetes
C) Lung cancer
D) AIDS

Question 19

Three of the following are goals for high quality end-of-life care according to the Hospice Education Institute. Which one is NOT one of their goals?

A) Promote relief from pain.
B) Integrate the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care.
C) Offer a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death.
D) Arrange for a terminally ill patient to administer his or her own lethal dose of medication.

Question 20

As part of what you read in this chapter, why did the President's Commission for the Ethical Study of Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research perform a study?

A) To determine the number of criteria for whole brain death
B) To determine the number of criteria for lung disease
C) To determine the number of criteria for nervous system malfunction
D) To determine the number of criteria for gastrointestinal disorder

Question 21

In order to take advantage of hospice care through Medicare, a person must

A) be terminally ill with 6 months or less to live.
B) be in advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease.
C) agree to use all available forms of life-prolonging measures.
D) have veterans' benefits.

Question 22

In the Netherlands, where there are guidelines for physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, a study found that

A) assisted suicide is approached cautiously and used sparingly.
B) passive euthanasia was requested much more often than active euthanasia.
C) active euthanasia was hardly requested at all.
D) assisted suicide accounted for most of the medically-assisted deaths.

Question 23

Manny (and many other people within his culture) believe that his ancestors are always with him. In which of the following countries does Manny MOST LIKELY live?

A) Brazil
B) Canada
C) France
D) Japan

Question 24

Harvinder strongly believes that a person's spirit enters a small flame that is placed in the sea as a signal to the spirit to leave the attachments of the earthly life and begin the transition to the afterlife. In which of the following cultures was Harvinder raised?

A) Eastern Orthodox
B) Hindu
C) Muslim
D) Catholic

Question 25

Which of the following is most accurate?

A) Funerals are the only death-related rituals in most societies.
B) In most cultures, people have a strong need to carry out funeral rituals for the burial of the dead.
C) Funerals are only held when the body is to be buried.
D) Funerals only take place in modern Western countries.

Question 26

Activities designed to end a person's life such as administering poison are referred to as

A) passive euthanasia.
B) expedient termination.
C) the Stockholm Syndrome.
D) active euthanasia.

Question 27

Which of the following statements about death-related rituals is most accurate?

A) Cremation is typically associated with a belief in the liberation of the spirit.
B) Burial is associated with liberation from society.
C) Burial is only used in Eastern societies.
D) Cremation is used as a punishment for evil deeds.

Question 28

If a person leaves a living will that directs a physician or hospital not to provide life-sustaining, heroic measures to prolong his or her life, he is requesting

A) passive euthanasia.
B) active euthanasia.
C) physician or hospital malpractice.
D) physician-assisted suicide.

Question 29

Which of the following is TRUE of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act?

A) It was overturned by the US Supreme Court in 1997.
B) It was defeated by Oregon voters when placed on the ballot in 1997.
C) It requires the patient to be 18 years or older and a resident of Oregon.
D) It leaves the decision up to the physician.

Question 30

Because Carla is terminally ill, with less than 6 months to live, she can legally request a prescription from her physician for a lethal dose of medication. In which U.S. state does Carla live?

A) Texas
B) Oregon
C) California
D) New York

Question 31

Which of the following is one of the three primary functions of death-related rituals?

A) Disposal of the dead person's possessions
B) Cleansing of the dead person's home to rid it of disease
C) Care of the dead person's soul or spirit
D) Financial support of the dead person's spouse

Question 32

According to the text, which of the following is one of the arguments against physician-assisted suicide?

A) Legalizing assisted suicide would increase a person's trust in and reliance on someone who is given the right to withhold care or accelerate death.
B) Legalizing assisted suicide would use up precious financial resources that could be left to one's heirs.
C) Legalizing assisted suicide would be brought on by suggestive counseling.
D) Legalizing assisted suicide might put pressure on the elderly to end their lives rather than be a burden to their families.

Question 33

Why did the ancient Egyptians develop techniques for embalming and mummification?

A) To prevent the corpses from smelling bad
B) In order for the person's soul to move to the next life, the body had to remain in tact
C) In order to improve the chances for reincarnation as a high status animal
D) So the body could be exhibited as a work of art

Question 34

People in most cultures believe that

A) the death of a person is the end of their existence.
B) there is a spiritual component of a person's being that continues after the body decomposes or burns.
C) the spirit remains in the location where death occurred.
D) a person's spirit returns in the birth of a new child in that culture.

Question 35

Why is Dr. Cicely Saunders famous?

A) Because she was the first to perform open-heart surgery
B) Because she founded the Red Cross
C) Because she founded the first hospice
D) Because she developed chemotherapy

Question 36

The term physician-assisted suicide refers to

A) when a physician arranges for the patient to administer a lethal dose of medication.
B) when a physician removes a patient's feeding tube.
C) a legal means of ending a terminally ill person's life in New Jersey.
D) passive euthanasia.

Question 37

Jose believes that everything a person creates has some part of that person's spirit in that creation. In which of the following cultures was Jose raised?

A) Estonian
B) Mexican
C) Navajo
D) Hindu

Question 38

Kathleen is a dying woman living in Oregon. According to the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, which of the following must Kathleen do if she chooses to die with dignity?

A) Prove she has less than four months to live.
B) Request the lethal medication four times.
C) Wait the 21-day waiting period, in case she were to change her mind.
D) Make sure a second physician confirms her diagnosis and prognosis.

Question 39

Which of the following statements about death-related rituals is most accurate?

A) People in the United States wash the dead person's body with scented water.
B) Muslims cover the dead person's face with cosmetic makeup.
C) American Indians cover a dead person's face with a powdery substance made of corn.
D) Hindus bury the body after 12 days.

Question 40

Joanna's culture teaches that there is a day each year when the dead return to their home for a visit. In which culture was Joanna raised?

A) Estonian
B) Scottish
C) Navajo
D) Bantu

Question 41

According to Lindemann's analysis, which of the following prolongs the survivor's preoccupation with the dead person?

A) Attending the funeral and the wake
B) Retaining photographs of the deceased person
C) Avoiding grief
D) Being in contact with people who were close to the deceased

Question 42

Three of the following rituals are common in the United States. Which is the exception?

A) People typically leave a will that is read to heirs.
B) Obituaries are published in local newspapers to notify the community of the death.
C) Contributions are made to charities.
D) The mayor of the deceased person's city is the first person to visit the family.

Question 43

In the Jewish traditions regarding death-related rituals and mourning,

A) the family surrounds itself with luxuries to show how successful the deceased person was.
B) business is conducted in the home when friends come by to visit.
C) special focus is given to the practices expected of children upon the death of their parents.
D) each family establishes its own rituals.

Question 44

Among people who have lost a spouse, intense depression is most likely to be experienced by those who

A) had no children.
B) described their marriage as positive and vital.
C) received a substantial life insurance payment.
D) experienced sensory and auditory hallucinations.

Question 45

Which of the following is considered a function of death rituals?

A) Isolating those grieving from the rest of society
B) Expressing personal grievances toward the departed
C) Increasing the mystery surrounding death
D) Providing a social context for expressions of grief

Question 46

In the study that followed older couples from before the death of a spouse until 18 months after the death, which group showed a pattern of elevated levels of depression before the death of the spouse but lower levels of depression at 6 and 18 months after the death of the spouse?

A) The depressed-improved
B) The resilient
C) The obtuse
D) The common grief group

Question 47

All of the following are true for the Amish culture EXCEPT

A) families care for their aging parents in their own homes.
B) the service and ritual express the belief in a spiritual immortality.
C) open communication about the process of dying.
D) during the course of the person's illness, the family lifestyle is changed to focus in on the dying person.

Question 48

Which of the following is most accurate about the funeral rituals of Africans who have migrated to the United States?

A) The entire community contributes money to cover the costs of food, burial expenses, and the family's support during the period of mourning.
B) The body is cremated and the ashes spread over the ground in Africa where their tribe lives.
C) A drum is buried with the deceased so they can communicate with the spirits.
D) All members of the community receive the same burial ritual regardless of their social position.

Question 49

In the study that followed older couples from before the death of a spouse until 18 months after the death, which group showed a pattern of low levels of depression before the death of the spouse and continued low levels after the death of the spouse?

A) The insensitive
B) The resilient
C) The liberated
D) The chronically happy

Question 50

Which statement best describes the level of universality of Lindemann's ideas about grief work?

A) In all cultures, intense expressions of grief are considered appropriate.
B) The context of death and its meaning for those who mourn suggests an individualized view of the adaptive process of bereavement is most accurate.
C) The loss of a loved one after a long, painful illness always requires intense grief work.
D) Counselors agree that after conditions of grave trauma, an early period of intense grieving is important for coping with immediate demands.

Question 51

Which of the following was NOT included in Lindemann's description of grief work?

A) Planning and conducting the funeral and mourning rituals
B) Achieving emancipation from bondage to the deceased
C) Making an adjustment to all aspects of the environment from which the deceased person is missing
D) Beginning to form new relationships

Question 52

Which of the following would agree with the results of a research study that followed older couples from before the death of a spouse until 18 months after the death?

A) Jim, a chronic griever, was depressed before his partner became ill.
B) Joanna, considered resilient, had an unhappy and unsatisfying marriage.
C) The context of his loss did not affect Kevin's grieving process.
D) Dillon felt a relative lack of grief-related symptoms that was not due to denial but was evidence of appropriate coping.

Question 53

Reuben Hill's ABCX model of coping has been expanded to double ABCX. This new model

A) emphasizes the societal context of death.
B) allows for more extended family members to be included.
C) reflects the changes in the family system over time.
D) reduces the role that meaning making plays.

Question 54

When Lindemann said that a bereaved person must achieve "emancipation from bondage to the deceased," what did he mean?

A) The person must resolve all financial ties with the deceased.
B) The person must begin to form new relationships.
C) The person must overcome feelings of regret for things left unsaid.
D) The person must establish a memorial for the deceased.

Question 55

Which of the following terms refers to the long-term, all-encompassing process of adjustment to the death of a loved one?

A) Bereavement
B) Morbid coping
C) Ritualized dysfunction
D) The Stockholm Syndrome

Question 56

What prompted psychiatrist Erich Lindemann to describe three phases of the grieving process?

A) Working with people who had lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks on America
B) Working with people whose relatives had experienced hardships during the Great Depression
C) Working with people whose relatives had been killed in World War II
D) Working with people whose relatives had been killed in the Coconut Grove fire

Question 57

In one study, most people who survived the death of a loved one from cancer found the intensity of the grief response

A) led to mental illness that required treatment.
B) decreased by the end of the first year after the death.
C) increased during the first year after the death.
D) remained the same by the end of the first year after the death as it was at the time of death.

Question 58

According to research findings, which of the following is MOST LIKELT true among older adults?

A) Harriet may not expect a full resolution of grief work associated with the death of her husband.
B) James would expect a full resolution of grief work associated with the death of his wife in one year.
C) Jonah would expect a full resolution of grief work associated with the death of his wife in three years.
D) Mary may expect no need for grief work associated with the death of her husband.

Question 59

Which of the following refers to the cognitive and emotional reactions that follow the death of a loved one.

A) Denial
B) Grief
C) Depression
D) Deification

Question 60

Which of the following aspects of grief is likely to be the most common and last the longest, according to studies of family members who were responsible for caring for a person suffering from later-life dementia?

A) Painful emotions
B) Sensory illusions that give the impression that the deceased person is still present
C) Preoccupation with thoughts of the deceased person
D) Feeling disconnected from reality

Question 61

Because of the circumstances of her brother's death, a young woman grieves in secret and feels rejected by her social circle. His was likely a(n) ________ death.

A) ambiguous
B) sudden
C) unacknowledged
D) stigmatized

Question 62

What happens in the process of introjection?

A) The mourner has increased thoughts of their own death.
B) The mourner feels as if the dead person is within them, guiding their behavior.
C) The mourner takes over the business of the deceased.
D) The mourner tries to be like the dead person.

Question 63

Confronting one's pain and sadness and finding a place for the deceased loved one in one's thought and memories is called ________ coping.

A) restoration-oriented
B) love-oriented
C) resource-oriented
D) loss-oriented

Question 64

Which of the following groups was composed of people who were preoccupied with a search for meaning in trying to make sense of a spouse's death?

A) The resilient group
B) The philosophical bipolar group
C) The chronic explorers
D) The chronic grievers

Question 65

The term context of loss refers to which of the following that can affect the bereavement process?

A) The nature of the relationship between the deceased and the survivor
B) The sudden or gradual trajectory of death
C) The extent to which the survivor believes that his spouse led a full life
D) All of these

Question 66

When a husband dies, his wife may need to create a new identity and social life in the community because the loss

A) ended his participation in household responsibilities.
B) reawakened a prior psychosocial crisis.
C) affected a reciprocal social role.
D) prompted introjections of her spouse.

Question 67

Which of the following most accurately describes persons who survive a loved one's suicide?

A) They may feel angry at the person for killing themselves.
B) They realize that they were unable to prevent it.
C) Their religion will likely provide rituals to support them in their loss.
D) The community will rally around them during their time of grief.

Question 68

Which of the following statements is most accurate about bereavement?

A) It may serve to help someone understand the grief and unhappiness of others.
B) The negative emotions associated with it lead to negative outcomes.
C) Expressions of grief turn others away from the griever.
D) Bereavement usually impedes psychosocial growth.

Question 69

The chronic grieving pattern of bereavement was associated with a

A) disruption of one's life by the sudden death of a healthy spouse.
B) lack of expression of grief related symptoms.
C) co-dependent relationship with the spouse who died.
D) long illness punctuated by periods of illness and periods of remission.

Question 70

One positive consequence of the loss of a loved may be the________    for the survivor.

A) decline in the quality of relationships with significant others
B) feelings of alienation
C) growth in commitment to those in one's radius of significant relationships
D) reaction formation

Question 71

Like birth, dying occurs in a psychosocial context of relationships, resources, cultural beliefs, and practices.

Question 72

Grief may be more intense for those who lose a loved one

A) who receives a great deal of pain medication.
B) who dies a sudden death.
C) who dies in a nursing home.
D) who dies at a very old age.

Question 73

Which of the following is considered one of the techniques Pauline Boss used to help ambiguous loss families cope with their loss?

A) She created storytelling meetings where adults and children were encouraged to tell something they remembered about the missing person.
B) She warned groups of families who lived in the same community not to meet together because it would intensify their feelings of loss.
C) She cautioned families to keep the same family rituals they always had and to observe them just as they had before the loss.
D) She urged them to push for closure.

Question 74

In reflecting on the life of someone who dies, a survivor may take on valued characteristics of the deceased such as integrity, fairness, or courage. This is an example of which of the following processes?

A) Identification
B) Rationalization
C) Introjection
D) Symbiosis

Question 75

Which scenario is LEAST likely to make bereavement more difficult for a surviving loved one?

A) Nursing home residence for the dying person
B) Lack of effective pain medication for the dying person in the last days of life
C) The survivor's perception of physician negligence
D) Sudden death of the loved one

Question 76

is an example of a stigmatized loss.

A) The death of a nurse's patient
B) The death of a foster parent
C) A death in a terrorist attack
D) A death from AIDS

Question 77

A(n)________occurs when a person is physically present but unable to participate in any meaningful way in family interactions, as when a person is in a coma or in late stages of Alzheimer's disease.

A) living death
B) fugue state
C) ambiguous loss
D) stigmatized loss

Question 78

Kübler-Ross raised issues about death and dying that reinforced the culture of death as medical failure.

Question 79

__________are those in which people attribute the death to an immoral, illegal, or evil cause.

A) Stigmatized deaths
B) Acknowledged deaths
C) Slow deaths
D) Sudden deaths

Question 80

Which of the following is considered an example of a person for whom someone's death is an unacknowledged loss?

A) Mother of a victim of the attack on the World Trade Centers
B) Spouse of a person who committed suicide
C) Sister of a person in a persistent vegetative state
D) Former spouse of the deceased