On this page
This page is intended to help you find information on the topic of death and dying.
For research assistance contact Nina Smart, Liaison Librarian for Gerontology ( or nsmart@sfu.ca) .
Background information
Handbooks and encyclopedias are excellent for an overview of concepts and definitions, often with useful bibliographies. They are also helpful for identifying the vocabulary or terms for your topic actually used by a specific discipline.
Macmillan encyclopedia of death and dying
covering major concepts
Handbook of family resilience
See part 4: Resilience, Loss and Grief
More handbooks in the Sociology sections: Death, Dying, Burial, Bereavement ;
Ageing, Aged
Term paper (finding articles and books)
Researching and writing an essay
Start your research here
Follow this SFU guide to researching and writing a term paper.
Do you already have a good article (HINT: as in a reading from a module in Canvas) and want more? Try citation pearl-growing, as shown on this Youtube tutorial either using an EBSCO database like Ageline below or using Google Scholar
Finding books
One useful book (or book chapter) will also give a great overview of a topic.
Some examples:
The inner life of the dying person [also print]
Medical law in Canada
Covering areas such as: Dying patients , Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)
Death and dying: sociological perspectives
covering sociological perspectives and social policy
Death, dying and Canadian families
End of Life Care: a national dialogue
Death and bereavement across cultures
Facing death across cultures: health and mortality in a diverse world
Critical approaches to death, dying and bereavement
covering inequalities in experiences of death, dying and bereavement, and intersectional analysis
Reports
End-of-life decision-making
report from Royal Society of Canada
World of Bereavement: Cultural Perspectives on Death in Families
The digital departed: how we face death, commemorate life, and chase virtual immortality
Finding journal articles
Ageline
the major social gerontology database
Guide: An Introduction to the Ageline database
CINAHL Complete
Nursing and allied health (sample subject term: Terminal Care)
Philosopher's Index
(sample subject terms: Assisted Suicide; Palliative Care; End of Life)
Sociological Abstracts
major sociology database
Communication & Mass Media Complete
particularly useful on the Subject: Memorialization. Sample keyword search: mourning AND "social media"
You can also browse a major journal in the area such as:
Omega: journal of death and dying
Death studies
The business of dying
Databases
Note: North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes used in IBIS World and other industry reports:
NAICS 8122 Funeral services
NAICS 812210 - Funeral homes
Search: "Funeral Homes in Canada"
(or 812210CA)
Passport
Search: Funeral and Related Services in Canada
(or ISIC 9303)
You can also search:
Canada in 2040: The Future Demographic, for the section "Life expectancy and deaths"
CBCA Complete
newspaper and journal articles
Sample search: subject(funeral industry) AND location(Canada)
Websites
What Every Funeral Director Needs to Know About Green Funerals: A Handbook for Funeral Directors
by the Green Burial Council
Funeral Service Association of Canada
including resources for the public, including FSAC member directory and death and grief resources
Note this section based on Mark Bodnar's BUEC Buzz post: "Death Inc."
Death and dying websites
Death and Culture
Wikipedia entry
Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross
official site
Beware the 5 Stages of Grief
TLC Group
The Canadian Law Reform Commission’s definition of death (1979)
Compassion and Choices
"a nonprofit organization, improves care and expand choice at the end of life. We support, educate and advocate." (U.S.)
LGBT End-of-Life Conversations
Gerontology Research Centre (SFU)
Meaning of Life and Meaning of Death in Successful Aging
Paul Wong, International Network on Personal Meaning
Government and legal
Dealing with Sudden Death
(Help Starts Here) BC Ministry of Justice
Death with Dignity Act
(Oregon)
The Definition of Death
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Discussion paper on a provincial strategy for end-of-life care in British Columbia British Columbia
BC Ministry of Health Services
Dying with Dignity
"improve quality of dying and to expand end of life choices in Canada"
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
overview from the Library of Parliament, Canada
Of Life and Death - Final Report
the Special Senate Committee on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Medical assistance in dying: Overview Government
Provincial Framework for End-of-Life Care
BC Ministry of Health Services
Quality of Death: Ranking end-of-life care across the world
Economist Intelligence Unit
Quality End-of-Life Care: The Right of Every Canadian
Senate of Canada
Medical assistance in dying: Overview
Government of Canada
Palliative care and hospice associations
Canada
BC Centre for Palliative Care
"advance care planning and serious illness conversations, integration of a palliative approach to care, and building Compassionate Communities"
BC Hospice Palliative Care Association
"to ensure quality of care for British Columbians faced with a life-threatening illness, death and bereavement"
Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA)
"That all Canadians have access to quality end-of-life care"
Canadian Virtual Hospice
information and support on hospice and end-of-life care, loss and grief
Delta Hospice Society
selection of pamphlets
Palliative Care Coalition of Canada
(PCCC) "The National Voice for Hospice Palliative Care in Canada"
United States
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
(AAHPM) - The professional organization for physicians taking care of people at the end of life
Caring Community
resources, publications, and advocacy
Center to Advance Palliative Care
"provides clear, comprehensive palliative care information for people coping with serious illness"
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
International
European Association for Palliative Care
"to act as a focus for all of those who work, or have an interest, in the field of palliative care"
International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care
providing education about palliative care and hospice in the developing world
Statistics
from Statistics Canada:
Deaths and age-specific mortality rates, by selected grouped causes
Leading Causes of Death
Life Expectancy and deaths
Statistical Reports on Deaths in British Columbia
BC Coroners Service
Leading Causes of Death and Hospitalization in Canada
Public Health Agency of Canada
Human Mortality Database
providing detailed mortality and population data (requires registration)
Further resources
Back to:
Gerontology
Sociology
See also SA 442 Applying Sociological Imagination course pages:
Sociology of Death–Institutions, Power & Grief (Summer 2025) and
Whose Lives Matter?