Practical and inspiring, this best-selling book helps you learn to cope with encounters with death, dying, and bereavement. The authors integrate classical and contemporary material, present task-based approaches for individual and family coping, and include four substantial chapters devoted to death-related issues faced by children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. The text discusses a variety of cultural and religious perspectives that affect people's understandings and practices associated with such encounters. The book also offers practical guidelines for constructive communication designed to encourage productive living in the face of death.

Dr. Charles A. Corr has been teaching and writing in the field of death, dying, and bereavement since 1975. He is a prolific contributor to this field, having been author, co-author, or co-editor of 30 books and more than 80 articles and chapters. Dr. Corr's professional work has been recognized by awards from the Association for Death Education and Counseling (in 1988 and 1996), as well as by Children's Hospice International in an award for Outstanding Contribution to the World of Hospice Support for Children (1989) and through the establishment in 1995 of the Charles A. Corr Award for Lifetime Achievement (Literature).Dr. Clyde M. Nabe's interests include thanatology, medical ethics, world religions, and aesthetics. He has published articles in the study of death and dying, medical ethics, and the philosophy of religion. His current work is focused on providing spiritual care.Donna M. Corr has worked as a nurse in a variety of critical care, oncology, and hospice settings. In addition, she was for 17 years a faculty member (rising from Instructor to Professor) in the Nursing Faculty of St. Louis Community College at Forest Park and then a Lecturer for two semesters at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Her publications include 9 books and more than 20 articles and chapters. Books edited by Donna and/or Charles Corr have received five Book of the Year Awards from the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF NURSING.

Prologue: The Horse on the Dining-Room Table. Part One: LEARNING ABOUT DEATH, DYING, AND BEREAVEMENT. 1. Education About Death, Dying, and Bereavement. Part Two: DEATH. 2. Changing Encounters with Death. 3. Changing Attitudes toward Death. 4. Death--Related Practices and the American Death System. 5. Cultural Differences and Death. Part Three: DYING. 6. Coping with Dying. 7. Coping with Dying: How Individuals Can Help. 8. Coping with Dying: How Communities Can Help. Part Four: BEREAVEMENT. 9. Coping with Loss and Grief. 10. Coping with Loss and Grief: How Individuals Can Help. 11. Coping with Loss and Grief: Funeral Practices and Other Ways Communities Can Help. Part Five: DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVES. 12. Children. 13. Adolescents. 14. Adults. 15. The Elderly. Part Six: LEGAL, CONCEPTUAL, AND MORAL ISSUES. 16. Legal Issues. 17. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. 18. Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Intentionally Ending a Human Life. 19. The Meaning of Place of Death in Life. Part Seven: NEW CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES. 20. HIV Infection and AIDS. Epilogue: Calendar Date Gives Mom Reason to Contemplate Life. Appendix A: Selected Literature for Children: Annotated Descriptions. Appendix B: Selected Literature for Adolescents: Annotated Descriptions.