Question

List and describe the stages of death and dying according to Kubler-Ross. How might you assist a client or patient in meeting these stages? What about family members, how might you assist them as well? IN 350-400 WORDS

Answer 1

The stages of death and dying according to Kubler and Ross are:

1) Denial: This is the first stage once the person gets to know about the impending death. Denial is basically refusal of acceptance of the situation. This makes the person feel better temporarily. It is a defense mechanism.

2) Anger: This stage takes place once the person accepts the medical reports about his/her impending death. The person might get extremly angry at himself or at others.

3) Bargaining: In this stage the person has partially accepted his/her condition but still hopes to get the situation in hand. The person generally asks for alternative treatments and re-check ups at this moment.

4) Depression: When the person realises that he/she cannot do anything to help the situation then they move on to being extremely sad and demotivated. This phase is very tough for the person as he/she cannot come in terms with reality.

5) Acceptance: In this phase the person finally comes in terms with reality and accepts the situation. The person finally feels calm and at ease and reflects back at his/her life.

A person at this stage could be helped by:

1) Spending time with the person during the initial phase of denial and help him calm down. However, the person should not be lied to at any stage regarding his disease or his situation.

2) During the stages of bargaining, a person might want to go for unnecessary alternate treatments. If these seem very futile, then the person could be stopped from taking those treatments and instead be encouraged to spend the time doing things he/she like doing.

3) The person should never be left alone for he/she might inflict anger on themselves or others around.

4) The person should be allowed and encourgared to talk more often and vent out all his/her feelings. This would calm the person down for death is not just a loss of life but also ending of many relationships.

The family members could be assisted by:

1) Family members should be made aware of the exact condition of the patient and the health care measures that could be taken by them.

2) They would be in need of emotional support. Therefore, being physically around would also be a good support.

3) The family members should be asked to talk about their feelings as bottling up of emotions would be harmful for them.

4) Sometimes at such times of crisis families fail to stay united due to differences of opinions and extreme emotions.However, it is important for families to stay united and therefore they should be helped in maintaining their unity in such times of trial.