Indigent/Unattended death lesson addressing differentiated learning styles

~2 class sessions
For use in Funeral Directing II or other Funeral Directing course where appropriate
Developed by Instructor Sarah A. Stopyra

Goal: This lesson has been designed to give students an introduction to the idea of unattended
deaths as well as indigent cases- those who die with either no resources and/or no next of kin or
both. Both are types of cases that one will inevitably see in their careers as funeral professionals
and must be prepared and know how to handle these cases logistically as well as emotionally.

Lesson Objectives (Questions that will be able to be answered by the end of the lesson)

1. Student will be able to explain the term unattended death

2. Student will be able to distinguish the difference between an indigent burial, an unidentified
burial and a decedent with no next of kin
3. Student will be able to describe how an indigent case differs in logistics from a traditional
case and how funeral professionals handle indigent and traditional cases differently from an
emotional perspective.

Prerequisites: There are no specific prerequisites for this LP, only that students have been
immersed within a funeral program for at least one semester.

Materials:
- Loose leaf or notebook paper for students
- Access to the documentary A Certain Kind of Death. Professor has a hard DVD copy,
but as of now it is also
available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErooOhzE268
- Access to Canvas platform or other LMS where a discussion board can be set up.

Lesson Description:
This lesson is designed in a differentiated fashion to touch upon various learning styles of the
students. This is a difficult topic to teach, as each case such as this is unique and comes with
individual challenges, therefore working through the material from many different angles is a
good way to pass the information along to the students. This lesson will touch upon visual/aural,
interpersonal/verbal and solitary/intrapersonal learning styles of the students at several different
points in the lesson.

Lesson Procedure
1. Film Introduction- ~80 min (Visual and Auditory Learners)

Prior to the lesson, students should not be given an idea as to what the topic is. On the day of
class, let the students know they will be watching a film. Ask them to take out a piece of paper
and as they watch the film, write down terms or concepts that are currently foreign to them. Also
let them know to write down how the different scenarios presented in the film make them feel. It
 may be advantageous to ask the students to try to view each scenario from the Funeral Directors
perspective as well as a possible family member of the deceased or the deceased themselves.
Play the video for the class. (1 hour and 9 minutes)
An alternative to watching this in class would be to have the students watch this film outside of
class on their own time, but watching in class is a better alternative so discussion can commence
immediately. The film can be broken up into two class session depending on the block allotted
for this class

2. Discussion- ~30-40 min (Verbal/Interpersonal Learners)

After the film, write down the lesson objective questions on the board:
What is an unattended death?
What is the difference between an indigent burial, an unidentified burial and a
decedent with no next of kin?
How may an indigent case differ in logistics from a traditional case? How may
funeral professionals handle indigent and traditional cases different from an
emotional perspective?

Walk the class through each question, exploring and delving deeper where appropriate. Be sure
as the facilitator to pull information from both traditional students as well as adult students in the
class who may have experience with these cases.

Be sure to discuss in depth, and interject lecture as needed, to be sure the students cover the
differences between unattended, indigent, unidentified and those decedents with no next of kin.

Facilitate discussion on how logistics differ on these cases. The film portrayed CA law, but is
this the same for every state? If conversation steers toward law in NE states, steer away from
that as that will be covered in the take-home assignment.

Facilitate discussion on how emotions on the part of the funeral professional may differ when
handling each type of case and why.

3. Research- (Solitary/Intrapersonal learners)

Explain that students will be exploring and reflecting on this topic a bit more. Assign each
student with an individual state (other than CA). Ask that they do some research on how
indigent/unidentified deaths are handled in that state. They can do this by exploring State
Funeral Director Association websites, calling a funeral home in that state, exploring State Laws,
etc.

After their individual research, they will be asked to post their findings on a group discussion
board where they can also view and comment on their classmates findings. Students will be
required to comment on at least TWO of their classmates findings.

Due to the sensitive nature of this topic and students general lack of familiarity with this subject,
additional class discussion may be needed to fully and appropriately cover the topic. This should
be done at the teachers discretion.
4. Evaluation/Assessment
A formal rubric will be utilized for the research component of this lesson.