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Death Anxiety and Death Competency: The Impact of a Palliative Care Volunteer Training Program

Psychology Department, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada; Psychology Department, 49A York St, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada E4L 1C7; sclaxton{at}mta.ca

Maggie Crain, BA

Psychology Department, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada

Jane Claxton-Oldfield

Psychology Department, Tantramar Hospice Palliative Care Organization, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada

Before and immediately after the 2 most recent offerings of a local palliative care volunteer training program, 17 participants completed the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale and Bugen's Coping with Death Scale. The training program consisted of approximately 27 hours of training presented in 3-hour blocks during a 9-week period. Topics included the philosophy and goals of palliative care, spiritual issues from a multi-cultural and multifaith perspective, communication, the dying process, grief and bereavement, and the role of the volunteer. The results showed no differences in participants' pretraining and posttraining scores on the 4 subscales of the Fear of Death Scale. However, participants felt significantly more able to cope with death and dying after the training program than before. With proper training, volunteers will feel more prepared to handle situations involving terminal illness and death. In short, they will be more effective in their work with dying patients and their families.

Key Words: death anxiety • death competency • palliative care volunteers

American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, Vol. 23, No. 6, 464-468 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1049909106294882


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