Elderly, death and dying

===Lecture Details===
Barbara Workman; Week 6 MED1022; HLSD
===Lecture Content===
Clinical death is lack of heartbeat and respiration. Whole brain death is no spontaneous movement in response to stimuli, total lack of response to painful stimuli, no motor reflexes, no eye movements, blinking or pupil responses, a flat EEG for at least 10 minutes, no change in criteria after 24 hours. A brain stem function test in a braindead person has no gag reflex, no cough reflex, no corneal reflex, no pupil response to light and absence of response in a cranial nerve distribution to painful stimuli eg nail bed or sternal pressure.
Age and culture heavy influences in experience of death and dying. A good death differs individually and professionally.
Types of death can be sudden, unexpected; sudden, expected; expected, prolonged.
Kubler-Ross model: stages of dying are denial ‘not me’, anger ‘why me’, bargaining ‘not now’, depression and acceptance.
Advanced directives (living wills) are instruction type directives (not legally binding) or proxy directives (medical power of attorney)
Morbid grief is when grieving goes on too long, intensely or inappropriately. Normal grieving can take years to complete.
===Readings===