Review Knowledge and Beliefs of Older People about Education for Death

At the moment, death is a subject that is increasingly present in the academic field as an object of study within the Social Sciences, although socially there is certain resistance to its treatment and coping. The main objective of this study is to analyze the knowledge and beliefs of older people about education and preparation for death. For this, a qualitative investigation has been developed, through 28 interviews, grouping their interpretations into two initial categories: education for death and preparation for death. The results show that the majority assume the importance of this education, but that it has only occurred during the childhood stage and in relation to the religious sphere. Death is present in our daily life but, in the educational field, it is still a taboo subject that tends to be ignored and set aside, and as such takes on special relevance in the lives of our elders, as a means of facing their own death in situations of anxiety and fear, or as a simple accompaniment to overcome this process. They also expose the need for an education for death in the family, as a process of educational help to overcome the grief of the deceased person. Older people show the need to develop a preparation for death through its inclusion as a transversal subject in schools, institutes and universities.