A CareSearch MOOC on Death

and Dying Deb Rawlings, Jennifer Tieman, Chris Sanderson, Deb Parker,

Lauren Miller-Lewis(PCNA, 2016)

IntroductionMOOC?• A ‘massive open online course’ which is a freely-available

short online courses that anyone can participate inTraditionally used in universities to deliver education out of the classroom, but there has been a surge in their popularity:• create social networks and engage participants• impart important messages• provide resources • facilitate research opportunities.

CareSearch MOOCThe aim of our MOOC was to:• build community awareness of palliative care and death as a normal

process• a never-before-seen opportunity to watch a community-driven approach to

death and dyingFor participants• an opportunity to engage and discuss death, to do something meaningful

to them, and to generate new knowledge.

Our approach to the MOOC was in a socio-cultural rather than a palliative care context

CareSearch MOOCFor the project team there is the opportunity to:• identify influences on people’s perceptions• hear the ‘voice that doesn’t sound’• develop new understanding of systems, communities and issues.

For CareSearchThere is little known about Australian attitudes to death and dying and about the role of online environments in discussions around death and dying.

Week 1: Engaging with Death and Dying• No Laughing Matter?• How we engage with D&D: Language• How we engage with D&D: Public Mourning• How we engage with D&D: Funerals

Week 2: Representations of Death and Dying • Death and Dying via Art and History• Death and Dying in Film• Death and Dying through television

Week 3: If Death is the problem, is medicine the answer?• What will we die of?• The role of medicine in how we die• Prolonging Life? Or prolonging Death?

Week 4: Digital Dying• The web is big• Digital legacy• Digital access and equity• Dying is personal. Dying is public

The Last Post• Final Reflections• Final activities

• Tweetchat• Lightbulb moments?

• Where to from here?• Host a death café, complete an AD, have conversations?

• Dissemination of resources• A 12 page summary of suggested online resources from

MOOC participants• Slideshow of D2L Deathwise posters

Opportunities• We took the opportunity to undertake some

research within the MOOC • Over 300 participants provided consent

• We are also undertaking a MOOC evaluation • We have developed some products for D2KD

Conclusion• 1141 students participated

• 1055 participants were from Australia, but of the remaining 86 participants, they came from: Belgium, Canada, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States

Conclusion• 2/3 Health professionals, 1/3 general

public• 9782 comments• 24 activities• We will be analysing data beyond

the foreseeable future

CareSearch would like to thank the many people who contribute their time and expertise to the project, including members of the National Advisory Group and the Knowledge Network Management Group.The Groundswell Project and the OpenLearningplatform both deserve special mention and acknowledgment

www.caresearch.com.au