​Death Notification Interactions

Instructor:
Dr. Teresa 'Lilly' White
Course length: 4 hours

Death Notification Interactions

Overview of Training Course:

    In human societies, one of the most important communications is the announcement of the death of one of its members by another. Most death notifications occur in hospitals or assisted living or dying facilities and may be expected or anticipated. Deaths occurring outside these facilities are usually sudden and/or unexpected.

    Law enforcement personnel, coroners, medicolegal death investigators, and other professionals are often tasked with communicating the sudden or unexpected death to the next-of-kin (NOK). It is arguably one of the most difficult duties these professionals engage in, especially considering how little death-telling training they receive. Correspondingly, it is likely the worst news the NOK can hear. The death-telling event is only a small part of the death notification (DN) process.

     The DN process has been perceived as a one-time, unilateral death-telling event. It is, instead, an interactional process with multiple actors and procedures. It does not begin or end with the death-telling event but is only part of the process for the coroner/medicolegal death investigator/law enforcement personnel and the NOK. The DN process begins for the notifier when they are dispatched to a death scene, while the process begins for the NOK with the death-telling event. The end of the DN process is more difficult to distinguish, as many believe that it continues long after a death.

    At the conclusion of this training course, the attendee will understand previous death notification practices; new perspectives on death notification interactions including managing responsibility, distance, and memories; interacting with Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies; cultural, ethical, and religious considerations; coping strategies; reflexivity and learning from past death interactions, and other important topics.

Learning Objectives:

Learning Objectives for Death Investigation Training: Death Notification Interactions

Upon completion of this 2-hour webinar, the student will be able to discuss the differences between previous and new perspectives on Death Notification standards and practices; describe how to interact with Federal, State, Tribal, Local Agencies and families concerning Death Notifications; discuss Cultural, Ethical, and Religious Considerations; and describe coping strategies for those who find themselves working around and near death in their careers. Students must pass the course assessment to receive a certificate.

Topics and Timeline:

Hour 1:

Introduction to Course and Learning Objectives
What is a Death Notification?
Background on Standardized Training in Death Notifications

“We Regret to Inform You ...” Impact Video.

Hour 2:

Previous Perspectives on Death Notifications

Hour 3:

New Perspectives on Death Notifications
Managing Responsibility
Managing Distance
Managing Memories

Hour 4:

Interacting with Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Agencies
Cultural, Ethical, and Religious Considerations
Good and Bad Coping Strategies
- Compassion Fatigue
- Vicarious Trauma
Reflexivity and Learning from Past Death Interactions
Course assessment and Feedback

Course Materials

There are no required textbooks for this course. However, students will be provided with a printable copy of the course PowerPoint presentation which will constitute the reading material required for the final course assessment. In addition, several weblinks will be posted that are useful and/or interesting. Students may also peruse the list of course references, which will provide additional reading materials.

Suggested/Recommended Readings:

CONSTRUCTING DISTANCE, RESPONSIBILITY, AND MEMORY MANAGEMENT THEORIES: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACH TO DEATH NOTIFICATION INTERACTIONS (umt.edu)
What is Vicarious Trauma? | What is Vicarious Trauma? | OVC (ojp.gov)
Introduction to Vicarious Trauma for Law Enforcement (ojp.gov)

Course Assessment

There will be a course assessment which will include five multiple choice and five true/false questions.

Dr. Teresa 'Lilly' White

Teresa ‘Lilly’ White, PhD, is a native Montanan. She received her BSLS in 2005 from MSU-B, her BA in Forensic Anthropology in 2011, her MA in Forensic Anthropology in 2013, and her PhD in Anthropology in 2019, from the University of Montana.

Lilly and her husband, Stocky (also a PhD in Anthropology), are the owners of Bone & Stone Anthrosciences, L.L.C., where they provide Anthropological & Archaeological Consulting Services and Educational Workshops to Federal, State, County, Tribal, and City Law Enforcement Personnel, Coroners/Death Investigators, Chaplains, Public Safety Officers, Forensic Practitioners, Physicians and Nurses, Mental Health Practitioners, Funeral Personnel, International Emergency Services companies, and others.

She teaches courses on: cultural and forensic anthropology, osteology, death investigations, death notification studies including compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma, human decomposition and entomology, thermal and explosives trauma on bodies, bone pathology and taphonomy, forensic recovery of scattered human remains, clandestine grave discovery and excavation, cold case investigations, end-of-life issues, grief facilitation, differentiating perimortem gunshot trauma from blunt force, after a car fire, autoerotic asphyxia (AeA), equivocal deaths, bloodstain pattern analysis, social determinants of health for sexual abuse victims, dark tourism, and other fascinating topics.

ATTEND

Interested in attending one of these courses? Check out our Upcoming Courses page for information on all scheduled courses.

UPCOMING COURSES

HOST

You can bring this course to your location! For more no-obligation information or to complete a hosting application, click below.

HOSTING INFORMATION