Health workers faced with death: The influence of training on the language employed in the passage from life to death

The choice of words used by healthcare workers to define the passage from life to death was analysed in a comparative study designed to evaluate how training influences attitudes on this subject. Health workers were casually assigned to two methodologies of teaching. One strategy was a mind-body approach using the techniques of dance movement therapy and the other was through a traditional lecture plus brainstorming technique. Participants were given a pre-selected list of words from which to choose the most representative words of the theme of death. The lists were analysed for variations in the frequency of selection by percentages of pre- and post-test words computed. Notably, in the mind-body group, only 32% of the words were reconfirmed by choice. The authors speculate that the difference in language represents changes in attitudes and beliefs towards the passage from life to death in the mind-body approach. These changes were considered more acceptable in the mind-body approach compared with the traditional approach.