Our reluctance to think, talk or communicate about death is even more pronounced when we deal with others’ loss compared to our own, new research finds, but either way we tend to frame attitudes and emotions in a sad and negative way.

Teaching new more positive ways to address these difficult conversations is the focus of a new paper in PLOS ONE journal by palliative care specialists across Australia.

Led by Flinders University’s Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying (RePaDD) and Palliative and Supportive Services, researchers from Flinders, CQUniversity Australia, NT Palliative Care Central Australia and University of Technology Sydney, surveyed 1,491 people about the use of language to express their feelings and insights into death and dying.