{
  "abstract": "Background: The public health approach to palliative care argues developing death literacy and compassionate communities are key in meeting the increasing demand for palliative care. One potential means of building such skills is The Omega Course, a group educational intervention for healthy community members run across five sessions.\n\nObjectives: To explore the impact of The Omega Course on participant death literacy, and to explore whether the course promotes compassionate community development. A retrospective pre–post observational study design with quantitative analysis and embedded complementary qualitative analysis was used.\n\nMethods: Mixed-methods secondary analysis of 179 pre- and post-course questionnaires consisting of Likert scales and open-text responses collected between 2016 and 2024. Responses were analysed using statistical and conventional content analysis. Quantitative and qualitative integration was supported by a Stakeholder Engagement Meeting.\n\nResults: Paired t-tests (n=150) revealed statistically significant increases in comfort and preparedness for dying post-course across all six questions (all ps<0.001), suggesting the course successfully cultivates comfort and preparedness for death, as a proxy for death literacy. Content analysis identified that social contact (e.g. meeting other participants) and communication skill-building (e.g. roleplaying) were perceived as the best, yet simultaneously most challenging, aspects of the course.\n\nDiscussion: Integration of findings suggests the shared challenge of social experiences may be what makes the course so successful in building death literacy and this can contribute to developing compassionate communities. The study was limited by participant homogeneity (predominantly older, female, and affluent). Structured educational interventions with a social element, such as The Omega Course, represent a potential step towards community preparedness for dying.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Campus, Coventry, UK",
    "The Omega Course Kenilworth, Warwickshire, UK"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Suzannah Laws",
      "orcid": "0009-0008-2885-9227"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Chantal Meystre",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2124-8358"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "John MacArtney",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0879-4277"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2pt3xny56zff0.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1177/26323524261481869",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13724883/",
  "id": "2pt3xny56zff0",
  "issns": [
    "2632-3524"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1177/26323524261481869",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Death Literacy"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Research Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2739|Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213519154",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13724883?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13724883",
  "pmid": "42973925",
  "published": "2026-09-17",
  "publisher": "SAGE Publications",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2pt3xny56zff0.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T12:23:22Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13724883",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1177/26323524261481869"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T15:20:49Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42973925",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42973925"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2739|Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Cultivating death literacy and compassionate communities via ‘The Omega course’: A mixed methods exploration",
  "title_text": "Cultivating death literacy and compassionate communities via ‘The Omega course’: A mixed methods exploration",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T12:21:16Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2pt3xny56zff0",
  "venue": "Palliative Care and Social Practice",
  "versions": []
}