I'll Never Forget Those Words: A Practical Guide To Death Notification

Death notification is one of the most difficult and stressful tasks facing health care and law enforcement professionals. Authors Lord and Stewart have compiled this comprehensive guide to the training and understanding needed for conveying painful news to survivors in an appropriate and compassionate manner. It provides practical recommendations on how to deliver notifications in a range of scenarios such as a vehicular crash scene, at a hospital, or at the survivors' home. Also discussed in depth are important strategies for self-care and enhancing resiliency in death notifiers.

Janice Harris Lord, MSW, is the author of many books and articles on trauma, grief, and spirituality in social work practice and victim advocacy. She served as National Director of Victim Services for Mothers Against Drunk Driving for fourteen years and is a licensed social worker, professional counselor, and private consultant on crime victims' issues. She is a Fellow in Thanatology with the Association of Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and a member of International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies. Ms. Lord has a broad background focusing on homicide, catastrophic injury, death notification, and standards and ethics in victim services. Alan Stewart, Ph. D. is associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development at the University of Georgia. He began studying death, loss, and trauma at the University of Memphis under the direction of Professor Robert A. Neimeyer. A board member of the American Society of Victimology, he received the 2007 John R. Dussich Research Award in Victimology for his work in death notification. Stewart has published numerous works on the topics of death, loss, and trauma.