School of Health & Science, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2012 Feb;56(2):191-203. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2011.01456.x. Epub 2011 Aug 1.
Bereavement is potentially a time of disruption and emotional distress. For individuals with an intellectual disability (ID), a limited understanding of the concept of death may exacerbate this distress. The aim of the present study was to investigate how individuals with ID understand and explain death and make sense of life without the deceased.
Thirty-four people with ID were interviewed using simple vignettes describing death-related incidents. Participants were asked about the causes of death, the status of the body after death and whether all living things die. In addition, participants were asked about reactions to death and for their views on post-bereavement support.
Nearly one quarter of participants had a full understanding and over two-thirds a partial understanding of the concept of death. Death comprehension was positively correlated with cognitive ability and adaptive functioning. While cause of death was predominantly associated with illness and old age, participants viewed death as final and understood that all living things die. The role of religious beliefs was also found to be important for many participants.
The results support earlier findings that suggest people with ID have only a partial understanding of the concept of death leaving them vulnerable to factually incorrect thoughts. The study highlights the considerable scope for making sense of death using religious and spiritual themes and emphasises the need for teaching individuals biological explanations of the life cycle. The results also provide some insight into the views of individuals with ID for carers involved in providing post-bereavement support.
丧亲之痛可能会导致生活的混乱和情绪困扰。对于智力障碍（ID）患者来说，他们对死亡概念的理解有限，可能会加剧这种困扰。本研究旨在探讨 ID 患者如何理解和解释死亡，并在没有死者的情况下理解生命的意义。
使用简单的情景描述描述与死亡相关的事件，对 34 名 ID 患者进行访谈。询问参与者有关死亡原因、死亡后身体状况以及所有生物是否都会死亡的问题。此外，还询问了参与者对死亡的反应以及对丧亲后的支持的看法。
近四分之一的参与者对死亡的概念有全面的理解，超过三分之二的参与者有部分理解。死亡理解能力与认知能力和适应功能呈正相关。虽然死亡原因主要与疾病和老年有关，但参与者认为死亡是最终的，并且理解所有生物都会死亡。宗教信仰的作用对许多参与者也很重要。
研究结果支持了早期的发现，即 ID 患者对死亡的概念只有部分理解，这使他们容易产生错误的事实观念。该研究强调了使用宗教和精神主题来理解死亡的重要性，并强调了教导个人生命周期的生物学解释的必要性。研究结果还为参与提供丧亲后支持的护理人员提供了有关 ID 患者观点的一些见解。
