A new way to talk about the end of life

Enrolments are now open for the next Dying2Learn massive online open course (MOOC), a popular program designed to help lift the shroud of concern and social stigma attached to conversations about death.

Developed by a team of palliative care experts at Flinders University under the Australian Department of Health funded CareSearch program, the free course runs for five weeks and will be conducted from 28 May to 9 July 2018.

Staff and students can sign-up via the Dying2Learn registration page.

Questions or comments about the course can be emailed to dying2learn@flinders.edu.au.

Interest in this course is expected to be high after a new article was published by Flinders authors in BMC Palliative Care (‘The contribution of a MOOC to community discussions around death and dying’).

The article analyses responses from the program’s first intake in 2016, which showed that participants felt more comfortable talking about death and dying after completing the course. More than 1,700 people have already registered for this year’s program.

“Dying2Learn is an innovation in online learning that shares key information on various issues about palliative care, death and dying,” says CareSearch Director Professor Jennifer Tieman, a Flinders University researcher in the College of Nursing and Public Health. “It offers a fantastic series of conversations.”

Professor Tieman says that Australia’s ageing population and corresponding increase in chronic disease has made normalising death an important priority.

“This is why CareSearch is working on expanding the Dying2Learn program and offering other information and support to health networks to make it even more helpful for all involved.”

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