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Colomo-Magaña E, Cívico-Ariza A, Basgall L, Guillén-Gámez FD. The Influence of Cultural Snapshots on Pre-service Teachers' Attitudes Towards Death Education. OMEGA-JOURNAL OF DEATH AND DYING 2023:302228231187013. [PMID: 37384882 DOI: 10.1177/00302228231187013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/01/2023]
Abstract
Cultural snapshots may be a didactic resource that promotes the understanding of death and provides teachers with tools that can be used to work with students. This study aims to analyse pre-service teachers' attitudes towards death education. A quantitative longitudinal panel design with pre-test and post-test measures was applied, with descriptive, inferential, and predictive approaches. The sample consisted of 161 pre-service primary teachers from a Spanish university who responded to the validated questionnaire "Death Education Attitudes Scale-Teachers" (DEAS-T). The results reveal an improvement in their attitudes towards death education after implementing cultural snapshots in class, producing significant differences between the pre-test and post-test according to gender, in favour of the male participants. The variables of death anxiety and adequate training are relevant for predicting the attitudes of both genders, in addition to the motivation variable in male participants and the variable of interest towards the topic in female participants.
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Effectiveness of Drama-Based Intervention in Improving Mental Health and Well-Being: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Period. Healthcare (Basel) 2023; 11:healthcare11060839. [PMID: 36981496 PMCID: PMC10048456 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11060839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
As a creative form of psychotherapy, drama appears to assist individuals in the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic period in altering crisis conditions and challenging negative perspectives. Drama-based intervention is presented as an option for addressing mental health issues in clinical and general populations by utilising various multidisciplinary sources, such as psychodrama and role playing. In this study, a systematic review and meta-analysis were employed to assess the impact of drama on mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic. Four electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect) were extensively searched from December 2019 to October 2022. Quality assessment and Risk of Bias tool of the Cochrane Collaboration were performed. Using a random effect model, standardised mean difference (SMD) values and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. In the final analysis, 25 studies involving 797 participants were included. The study revealed that drama-based interventions have the potential to improve mental health (e.g., trauma-related disorders) and well-being (e.g., psychological well-being), which could position drama as an adjunctive method of mental health care. This original review offered the newer, more comprehensive recommendations for drama-based intervention based on evidence.
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Interest and Confidence in Death Education and Palliative Psychology in Italian and Indian University Students of Psychology: Similarities and Differences. Behav Sci (Basel) 2023; 13:bs13020183. [PMID: 36829412 PMCID: PMC9952567 DOI: 10.3390/bs13020183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2023] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Teaching death education and palliative psychology in universities has proven to be of great importance, especially in the health professions. The present study aims to evaluate the similarities and differences in interest and confidence in death education and palliative psychology between university psychology students from two culturally different countries: Italy and India. For this study, 63 Italian and 35 Indian psychology students were recruited to take part in a course on death education and palliative psychology. The results showed the positive impact of a death education and palliative psychology course on the training of professionals. In particular, this course was useful in helping students become familiar with and learn how to manage future professional situations related to death and dying. Specific differences between the two countries also emerged, particularly with regard to their approach to the end-of-life field, due to different cultural contexts. There is still much to be done by institutions to improve the dissemination and academic teaching of this area, which in turn can promote job opportunities for young people and encourage them to work in this field.
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Ronconi L, Biancalani G, Medesi GA, Orkibi H, Testoni I. Death Education for Palliative Psychology: The Impact of a Death Education Course for Italian University Students. Behav Sci (Basel) 2023; 13:bs13020182. [PMID: 36829411 PMCID: PMC9952646 DOI: 10.3390/bs13020182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Revised: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The present study investigated the effects of a hybrid online course on a group of Italian Master's degree students involved in a European Erasmus+ project. The course was composed of nine modules about death education, palliative psychology and the use of creative arts therapies-such as psychodrama, intermodal psychodrama and photovoice-in the end-of-life-field. The project involved 64 students in the experimental group (who attended the course) and 56 students as the control group. Both groups completed an online questionnaire before and after the delivery of the course and 10 students from the experimental group participated in a focus group at the end of the course. The quantitative analysis revealed that the experimental group students showed lesser levels of perception of death as annihilation, fear of the death and death avoidance, while they increased their levels of death acceptance, creative self-efficacy and attitude toward the care of the dying. Qualitative analysis identified three main themes: the positive impact of the course on death education and end-of-life care; the role of art therapies on death and end-of-life care; and the unhelpful facets of the course. Overall, this intervention changed the perception and the feelings of the students regarding the themes of death and palliative psychology and increased their creative self-efficacy and their interest in working in an end-of-life field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Ronconi
- IT and Statistical Services, Multifunctional Pole of Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-049-8276585
| | - Gianmarco Biancalani
- Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA), University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Georgiana Alexandra Medesi
- Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA), University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Hod Orkibi
- Drama & Health Science Lab, and the Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
| | - Ines Testoni
- Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA), University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Drama & Health Science Lab, and the Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
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Raccichini M, Biancalani G, Franchini L, Varani S, Ronconi L, Testoni I. Death education and photovoice at school: A workshop with Italian high school students. DEATH STUDIES 2022; 47:279-286. [PMID: 35300581 DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2022.2052206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The study shows the effects of a death education workshop with Italian high school students. Students (N = 416) from 10 high schools throughout Italy participated: 212 in the experimental group and 204 in the control group. Four weekly, two-hour workshops about the themes of death, with theoretical lessons and an experiential artistic activity of photovoice. Results show that the students in the experimental group showed significantly increased self-efficacy levels and existential anxiety levels did not increase after death education intervention. Educating youth about death could give them the skills to improve the management of death-related events and cope with negative emotions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gianmarco Biancalani
- Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Luca Franchini
- Fondazione ANT, National Tumor Assistance (ANT), Bologna, Italy
| | - Silvia Varani
- Fondazione ANT, National Tumor Assistance (ANT), Bologna, Italy
| | - Lucia Ronconi
- IT and Statistical Services, Multifunctional Pole of Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Ines Testoni
- Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Emil Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
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Testoni I, Piol S, De Leo D. Suicide Prevention: University Students' Narratives on Their Reasons for Living and for Dying. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:8029. [PMID: 34360323 PMCID: PMC8345779 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18158029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Revised: 07/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Social isolation and loneliness are increasing in our contemporary western society and seem to correlate with suicide in adolescents and young adults. Social Workers are a potential resource to create such initiatives and projects that promote inclusion and cohesion within communities, a protective factor against suicide. Sixty-two Social Work BA students participated in a Death Education course based on education on suicide prevention. Participants carried out two activities. First, they were invited to complete two written semi-structured interviews on young people's reasons for living and dying. Second, they were invited to design suicide prevention interventions targeted at their peers and adolescents. Data were analyzed qualitatively within the Thematic Analysis framework. As regards the first activity, four main themes were identified: (1) Internet and social media; (2) social isolation and loneliness; (3) the importance of proximal relationships; and, (4) the importance of networking between proximal relationships, educational institutions and mental health services. Whereas, as for suicide prevention interventions, three main ideas were identified: (1) suicide prevention through community and networking between services; (2) academic institutions: high schools and universities; and, (3) suicide prevention through new technologies. To conclude, Death Education as education on suicide prevention can offer young people a space in which to voice their and their peers' reasons for living and dying and to reflect upon their contribution to suicide prevention as students and as future professionals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ines Testoni
- Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy and Applied Psychology (FISPPA), University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy;
- Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
| | - Silvia Piol
- Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy and Applied Psychology (FISPPA), University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy;
| | - Diego De Leo
- Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, Griffith University, Brisbane 4122, Australia;
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