Grief at School: Addressing the Needs of Grieving Students

The American Hospice Foundation announces a new self-study course/tool kit entitled Grief at School: Addressing the Needs of Grieving Students. The course includes a CD-ROM designed for school psychologists, school counselors, school social workers, school nurses, classroom teachers, and school administrators. Developed in collaboration with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, the course is endorsed by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), the School Social Work Association of America (SSWAA), and the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). See quotes below.

Presented in three segments, the course comprises a CD-ROM, supplemented by print materials. Segment I examines the grief process at various age levels and common cultural beliefs about grief responses. Segment II includes interventions for helping grieving students and classroom activities for teaching healthy responses to loss. Segment III addresses crisis team building and preparation for tragedies in school settings, in the local community and at the national level. Supplementing the CD-ROM are two print documents designed for ongoing use: a Training Guide for those who wish to train colleagues and a Resource Manual with creative ideas for classroom activities.

Application has been approved for 2 contact hours of continuing education (CE) credit for counselors, social workers, and members of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), and 2.4 contact hours for nurses. Instructions for obtaining CE credit are included in the CD-ROM.

Learning Objectives

After taking the course, participants will be able to:

• Describe how various age groups process grief, based on developmental differences.
• Describe and demonstrate therapeutic activities appropriate for grieving children of different age groups-including artwork, discussions, and games.
• Describe the purposes and benefits of funerals and grieving rituals for different age groups.
• Use existing curriculum content/readings as springboards to explore death and grief topics.
• Identify how grief may affect a child's school performance and behavior, and describe appropriate interventions.
• Demonstrate ways to develop and sustain support groups for grieving students.
• Explain elements of a crisis intervention plan, involving schools and community resources.
• Identify the characteristics of an effective crisis team within a school.
• Describe best practices for informing the school community of a death or other crisis.

The course has been reviewed by national leaders of school-based professionals and has received rave reviews, as follows.

"Through an excellent program developed by the American Hospice Foundation, educating children about loss, death, and grief has been made significantly more humane and relevant."      Dr. Ted Feinberg, Assistant Executive Director, NASP

"The course is comprehensive and covers the range of grade levels found in the schools. School social workers can also use this CD when working with teachers, administrators, and parents."      Randy Fisher, Executive Director, SSWAA

"Grief cuts through all aspects of a student's life, and schools and school personnel are in a unique situation to aid in the healing process. Grief at School is a thorough and comprehensive guide to dealing with issues of loss and grief and provides excellent tools to help school counselors and all student service personnel work with students, parents and teachers."      Richard Wong, Executive Director, ASCA

Minimum configuration to play the CD-ROM

333 MHz processor
Windows 98
128 MB RAM
8 X CD-ROM drive
16 MB video card
Windows compatible sound card
Video resolution: 800 x 600
16-bit color screen setting
PC-compatible mouse

CD-ROM Table of Contents
Training Guide Table of Contents
Resource Manual Table of Contents

Cost of Continuing Education Certificate (available to course purchasers in the 3 categories above): $10

Organizations wishing to license the course for multiple users should contact Naomi Naierman at 202-223-0204 or ahf@americanhospice.org.