The contribution of a MOOC to community discussions around death and dying

摘要

BackgroundAdvances in medicine have helped many to live longer lives and to be able to meet health challenges. However death rates are anticipated to increase given the ageing population and chronic disease progression. Being able to talk about death is seen to be important in normalising death as part of life and supporting preparedness for death. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) provide opportunities for the community to engage in collaborative learning. A 5 week MOOC was developed covering four main topics (language and humour, representations of death, medicalisation of dying, and digital dying) aiming: class="unordered" style="list-style-type:disc">To enable participants to openly and supportively discuss and learn about issues around living, death and dying,To explore the normally unheard opinions and views of Australians around death and dying, andTo determine what effect online learning and discussions offered through the MOOC had on participants’ feelings and attitudes towards death and dying.