GriefTech Center™

The
GriefTech Center
@ Stanford University
The Creation of a GriefTech Center for the
Research, Collaboration and Education of
“How new technologies can improve the lives of
the millions grieving worldwide now and in the future”
Augusto Failde
www.GriefTech.org
Stanford Alumni
3/13/2019

The Purposeful University
https://planning.stanford.edu/
“…l hope your lives will be truly earnest, not in the sense of
going forth to acquire great wealth and great names; but to be
conscientious workers,
to be helpful to others,
to send cheer and goodwill to
those who need lifting up…”
Jane Stanford 2

Table of Contents
1. Summary
2. New Technologies Impacting Our Grieving Process
3. The Numbers: People Grieving Worldwide
▪ Children
▪ Baby Boomers
▪ Millennials
▪ Military Loss
▪ Worldwide
▪ Pet Loss
4. Examples of Research Funding Opportunities
5. Examples of Grief Centers Worldwide
6. Grieving @ Stanford - How are we doing?
7. Next Steps
8. About www.MyGriefAngels.org
3

What? Why Now? Why Grief Tech? & Why Stanford?
• Proposal: The creation of the GriefTech Center @ Stanford University for
the Research, Industry Collaboration and Educational Outreach on How
New Technologies are and will affect grief and the grieving process of
people worldwide; including Stanford students, alumni, employees, &
their families.
• Why Now: The numbers of people grieving in the United States and
internationally are and will continue to grow exponentially over the next
decade, while at the same time - the number of new technologies that
will impact our grieving processes are advancing at a fast rate.
– “Grief last year cost employers an estimated $113.27 billion in reduced
productivity and on-the-job errors” (Chicago Tribune - 1/3/2019)
• Why Grief Tech: While other academic grief centers have been founded
worldwide, “none is focused on the impact of existing and new
technologies on our grief and grieving process.”
• Why Stanford: A university, founded by the Good that came from the
grief of two parents, located at the world’s leading technology center
and with its founding purpose: “To promote the public welfare by
exercising an influence in behalf of humanity and civilizations”
5

2. New Technologies Impacting
Our Grieving Process
6

Technologies Impacting
Our Grief and Grieving Process in the Future Include:
• Artificial Intelligence
• Augmented Reality
• Cloning
• Robotics
• Gaming
• Mobile Tech
• Social Media
7

How GriefTech Impacts How We Grieve
• Artificial Intelligence:
– She understood the chatbot was a piece of tech, not her son, but that it still felt reassuring
to her. “I feel his voice through the lines of his texts.” She added: “I really need you. You are
much more than a technological project. You are memory and love. You give me strength
and teach me how to live on.”
– “If you communicate with a person through technology, that might be where your loss is
communicated..With so much anguish about technology ruining people’s ability to forge
human connections, grief tech feels, perversely, rather cathartic to me”
https://www.ft.com/content/95dc5584-1c12-11e8-aaca-4574d7dabfb6
• “Holograms of dead to send messages to loved ones. A new TV show will deliver
messages from terminally-ill people to their loved ones via their own hologram
after they have died.” Using cutting-edge holographic technology, the “deeply
personal missives” will be “delivered post-mortem, by the subjects themselves in
vivid, three-dimensional, holographic form” (1/30/2019) https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/holograms-of-dead-to-send-
messages-to-loved-ones-in-new-channel-4-show-37767569.html
• How I Learned to Grieve the Loss of My Dad in the Age of Instagram”
https://www.vogue.com/article/grief-anxiety-mourning-social-media-vogue-october-2018-issue
• “Thousands watching virtual funerals online as demand in Australia increases.
The number of Australians opting to watch funerals online instead of attending in
person has more than doubled in the past year.“ https://www.heraldsun.com.au/.../thousands-watching-virtual-
funerals-online-as-demand. (2/8/2019)
8

Mobile Technologies & Grief Support
• December 14, 20`14 - http://blog.passare.com/2014/12/24/grief-support-app-helps-connect/ -
Grief Support App Helps You Connect. We want to share a story about a grief support app that helps
people who have lost loved ones connect and create their own local grief support network. The new
“Grief Support Network” app was launched by the online grief support non-profit My Grief Angels just
in time for what can be one of the most difficult times of the year, the holidays.
• November 2017
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320096277_Mobile_Technologies_for_Grief_Support_Prot
otyping_an_Application_to_Support_the_Bereaved - Indiana University/University of Virginia - Mobile
Technologies for Grief Support: Prototyping an Application to Support the Bereaved
• 2018 - “The Department of Defense Congressionally-Directed Medical Research Program awarded
Uniformed Services University (USU) $3 million, four-year grant to develop and test a mobile and web
application to help military families cope with the loss of a servicemember”
• January 8, 2019 - https://www.newyorklife.com/newsroom/new-york-life-foundation-grant-
griefsteps-app-center-for-complicated-grief - Center for Complicated Grief at Columbia University's
School of Social Work today announced the launch of GriefSteps for Parents, an innovative,
research-backed grief app designed to provide accessible, community-based support to families
following the loss of a loved one.App was developed through a three-year $800,000 grant from the
New York Life Foundation, the largest corporate funder of childhood bereavement.“
9

Online Education: MOOCs & Grief
• https://www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_releases/2016/09/15/MN90858 -
New Free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on How After a Loss, “Grief can Kill or
Empower Us”: 80% of survey respondents did not feel prepared to deal with the grief
that followed a loss and a new self-paced online course on grief aims to help. Available
now on the European Multiple MOOCs Aggregator (EMMA) Platform
• https://www.caresearch.com.au/caresearch/tabid/5233/Default.aspx The purpose of
the Dying2Learn Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is to build community awareness
and foster social discussion about death and dying in Australia. The course explores
social and physical issues around death and dying, and looks at how concepts and
representations of death have changed over time. Dying2Learn is a social learning
experience, designed to get people thinking and talking about death
• http://www.ed.uc.pt/caremooc/index.html - INTRODUCTION TO CAREGIVING FOR OLDER
PEOPLE AT THE END OF LIFE…Grief and bereavement.
10

The Numbers: Children & Grievinghttps://www.childrensgriefawarenessday.org/cgad2/pdf/griefstatistics.pdf
• 1 in 5 children will experience the death of someone close to
them by age 18. (Kenneth Doka, Editor of OMEGA, Journal of
Death and Dying)
• In a poll of 1,000 high school juniors and seniors, 90% indicated
that they had experienced the death of a loved one.
(nahic.ucsf.edu/downloads/Mortality.pdf)
• Mortality rates for adults in their 40s and 50s in the past two
decades have risen dramatically, making it more likely that
younger children will experience the death of a parent, or a
classmate’s parent. “Kids are encountering death more often and
at a younger age—it’s just inevitable,” says Gerald Koocher, chief
of psychology at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. (“Early Grief” Wall
Street Journal, Feb. 18,1999)
12

The Numbers: Children & Grieving
https://www.childrensgriefawarenessday.org/cgad2/pdf/griefstatistics.pdf
• It is estimated that 73,000 children die every year in the United States.
Of those children, 83 percent have surviving siblings. (Torbic, H. “Children
and Grief: But what about the children?” Home Healthcare Nurse.
2011;29(2):67-79)
• "3.5 % of children younger than 18 will lose their mother or father,
according to the Social Security Administration. As people now become
parents when they are older, this number is likely to increase."
http://www.cincinnati.com/
• 7 in 10 teachers (69%) currently have at least one student in their
class(es) who has lost a parent, guardian, sibling, or close friend in the
past year.Classroom teachers report that students who have lost a parent
or guardian typically exhibit:
– Difficulty concentrating in class (observed by 87% of teachers) –
– Withdrawal/disengagement and less class participation (observed by 82%)
– Absenteeism (observed by 72%)
– Decrease in quality of work (observed by 68%)
– Less reliability in turning in assignments (observed by 66%)
13

The Numbers: Baby Boomers
• "America's 76 MILLION Baby Boomers are losing 4,900 of their Parents
each day“ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gloria-horsley/how-are-baby-
boomers-handling-the-death-of-their-parents_b_5515057.html
• “As baby boomers age, 'we are in for a death boom.’ Grief expert urges
support for mourning workers.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-grief-in-the-workplace-
20181210-story.html
• “Reality of death is hitting baby boomers hard“
https://www.seniorconcerns.org/reality-death-hitting-baby-boomers-
hard/
• “69% of Americans who lost a parent growing up still think about their
parent frequently”
https://www.childrensgriefawarenessday.org/cgad2/pdf/griefstatistics.p
df
14

The Numbers: Military Loss
• 15,851 active-duty military deaths since 2006
• “Bond in Grief....At least 10 People are significantly impacted by Each
Death of a Service Member in the Military“
• “In 2017, 5,715 new people grieving the death of a loved one in
military service to America have connected with TAPS to find
comfort and support. This is a 20% increase over TAPS intake of
new survivors in 2016.”
https://www.taps.org/globalassets/connect/main/taps_faq_2018.p
df
• “Global armed conflicts becoming more deadly, major study finds”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/20/armed-
conflict-deaths-increase-syria-iraq-afghanistan-yemen
15

The Numbers: Millennials
• “At any given time, roughly 22 percent to 30 percent of college undergraduates are in their first 12 months of
grieving for a loved one – a parent, grandparent, sibling or close friend, according to a Wiley InterScience review of
academic studies and mental health research.
– Losing a parent for anyone is unsettling, but it’s particularly so for this generation of young millennials, who tend
to in marriage, careers and homes than their parents’ generation. settle down later
– Fact that millennials are more accustomed to online and social media interactions than face-to-face ones can
also be a challenge” https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-
andmedicine/article26696452.html#storylink=cpy
• Millennials in particular, a demographic currently in the grip of a loneliness epidemic, are struggling to come to
terms with their grief” https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2018/06/199422/death-parent-grief
• “3 Trends Might Make Millennials Better at Grieving Than Baby Boomers –
– Constantly Changing Technology: Millennials are constantly looking for the better option, the faster technology,
the clearer sound or the more durable phone. We are in the midst of a digital revolution so they either adapt or
fall behind.“
– Digital Age Challenges: One minute they are getting a text that says, ‘So sorry for your loss’ and the next, ‘Want
to go to a movie?’ It’s bad enough that we think grief ends in three or four days. With social media it’s reduced to
15 minutes.”https://connectingdirectors.com/51564-millennial-grief
• Anticipatory Grief, Caregivers & Loss: According to AARP, millennials make up 25%—1 in 4—of America’s 40 million
unpaid family caregivers” https://www.forbes.com/sites/jodygastfriend/2018/07/25/the-cost-of-caregiving-meet-
the-millennials-taking-a-second-unpaid-shift/#2256477729ff”
16

The Numbers: International
• Worldwide:
– "At least 245 million women around the world have been widowed and more than 115 million of them live in devastating poverty”
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-06-23-un-widows-poverty_N.htm
– “Of the 56.9 million deaths worldwide in 2016, more than half (54%) were due to the top 10 causes…Last 15 Years” https://www.who.int/news-
room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death and https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/346rank.html#BR
– Cancer: “18 million new cases of cancer globally this year and 9.6 million deaths. More than half of all Cancer Deaths will occur in Asia, home to 60%
of the world's population. Europe accounts for about 23% of cancer cases while the Americas accounts for 21%. 29 million cases of cancer by 2040
and 16 million deaths “https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cancer-expected-to-kill-more-than-9-million-people-globally-this-year-report-finds/
– Suicide: “Annually, an estimated 48 million people experience grief to Suicide Loss worldwide” http://theconversation.com/mourning-death-by-
suicide-how-you-can-provide-support-for-the-bereaved-98983
• The Canadian context http://www.chpca.net/media/575596/faq_-national_bereavement_day_in_canada_2017_-_en_-_final.pdf
– In 2017, an estimated 269,000 Canadians will die,
– With each death approximately 5 other people will experience grief
– Canada’s population is aging rapidly, and by 2036, the number of deaths in Canada is estimated to be 425,000 per year.
• United Kingdom http://www.childhoodbereavementnetwork.org.uk/research/key-statistics.aspx
– 23,600 parents died in the UK, leaving dependent children (23,200 in 2014). That's one parent every 22 minutes
– In 2015, these parents left behind around 41,000 dependent children aged 0-17 (40,000 in 2014). That's 112 newly bereaved children every day.
• China: “The annual death toll in the country is about 8.9 million, of which, The number of unnatural deaths in China each year more than 3.2 million”
https://www.quora.com/How-many-people-die-every-year-in-China
• India:
– “India's death rate according to CIA world factbook is about 7 per 1000. Based on this, 8.4 million people die every year in India which comes to
22,500 per day approximately” https://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=in&v=26 and https://www.quora.com/How-many-people-die-in-India-every-
day
– “India tops global pollution deaths of 9 million a year: study” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-pollution-health/india-tops-global-pollution-
deaths-of-9-million-a-year-study-idUSKBN1CO39P
17

The Numbers: Pet Loss
• “68% percent of U.S. households, or about 85 million families, own a pet”
https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-pet-statistics
• Pet Loss “Millennials are treating pets like 'their firstborn child’
https://www.thetelegraph.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Millennials
-are-treating-pets-like-their-13384580.php?ipid=artem
• “A pet’s death can hurt more than losing a fellow human. Social norms are
wrecking your grief experience” https://www.popsci.com/pet-death-grief
• “Why We Need to Take Pet Loss Seriously. Although grief over the loss of a
cherished pet may be as intense and even as lengthy as when a significant
person in our life dies..Many of the societal mechanisms of social and
community support are absent when a pet dies”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-we-need-to-take-pet-loss-
seriously/
• “Pet cloning is not just for celebrities anymore https://phys.org/news/2018-
03-pet-cloning-celebrities-anymore.html
18

4. Examples of Research Funding
Opportunities
19

Examples of Research Funding Opportunities
• New York Life Foundation Philanthropic Giving in 2018 $25 Million:
– $15 Million to Education & Bereavement Partners, $2.9 Million to Child
Bereavement.
• Columbia University:
– https://complicatedgrief.columbia.edu/professionals/complicated-grief-
professionals/overview/ The Center for Complicated Grief @ Columbia
University
– “The Department of Defense Congressionally-Directed Medical Research
Program awarded Uniformed Services University (USU) and Columbia
University’s Center for Complicated Grief a $3 million, four-year grant to
develop and test a mobile and web application to help military families cope
with the loss of a servicemember” https://www.stripes.com/lifestyle/new-
study-aims-to-help-military-families-grieve-1.546485
– New Grief App for parents was developed through a three-year $800,000
grant from the New York Life Foundation (2019)
https://www.newyorklife.com/newsroom/new-york-life-foundation-grant-
griefsteps-app-center-for-complicated-grief
• Cornell University Center for Research on End of Life Care has had remarkable
success in 2 years of existence. Over $12 million dollars in NIH Funding for
grants https://endoflife.weill.cornell.edu/about-us 20

5. Examples of Grief Centers
Worldwide
21

Examples of Other Grief Centers & Initiatives
• USC University of Southern California- National Center for School Crisis & Bereavement -
https://www.schoolcrisiscenter.org/
• University of Wisconsin Center for Grief & Death Education - https://www.uwlax.edu/center/grief-and-death-
education/
• Trauma and Grief Center for Youth at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)
https://med.uth.edu/news/2015/01/22/trauma-and-grief-center-for-youth-opens/
• Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders and Complicated Grief at Massachusetts General Hospital
https://www.massgeneral.org/psychiatry/research/researchlab.aspx?id=1756
• https://www.sophia.ac.jp/eng/research/research/affiliated_r/griefcare.html - Japan: Sophia University’s Institute
of Grief Care - Established in April 2009, this Institute is first of its kind in Japan to deal with what is referred to as
“grief care.” In April 2010, its ownership was transferred to Sophia University form St. Thomas University. The
Institute is carrying out research on how to cope with the mixed emotions that people go through when they lose
someone close to them.
• http://vbn.aau.dk/en/organisations/sorgens-kultur(6962dfb5-9499-4f7f-971b-64f4d3e37dd5).html Denmark:
Aalborg University: Culture of grief. In this research centre, we will specifically examine grief experiences & the
cultural setting and conception of happiness and distress within which grief is situated in our time.
• http://www.bath.ac.uk/cdas/ UK: University of Bath Center for Death & Society. Research Projects include:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/cdas/research/
• https://www.dur.ac.uk/cdals/ UK: Durham University Centre for Death and Life Studies
• https://www.kings.uwo.ca/academics/centres-kings/grief-and-bereavement/ - Canada: King’s University College
Centre for Education about Grief and Bereavement. 22

“We’re the university
that talks about climate change and
social justice issues, but
the one thing that we talk about least is
grieving”
The Stanford Daily – 2/12/2016
24

“No one wants to be the person who answers “Terrible,”
when someone asks,
“How are you?”
The resources Stanford provides for students
dealing with grief are hard to find..
More should be done to promote and
advertise these services,
especially since
grief is so universally experienced
Maybe we should be okay
with the idea of answering “How are you?”
with “Not good.”
The Stanford Daily – 2/12/2016
25

Research on Grief & Students
• https://www.purdue.edu/uns/html4ever/2006/060404.Seib.study.html Study: Grief has impact on college
students' academic performance Study: Grief has impact on college students' academic performance. At
any one point in time, 22-30% of college undergraduates are likely to have experienced a death loss in the
previous 12-month period (Balk, 2001). Anecdotal evidence and intuitive impressions suggest that bereaved
college students are at risk for academic difficulties and dropout. The current findings provide empirical
support for intuitive impressions that bereaved college students are at risk for decreased academic
performance and substantiate arguments that colleges and universities should intervene on behalf of bereaved
students
• https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/55324196.pdf Grief and Bereavement among College Students. Based on
the results, this research underlines the importance for grief awareness on Abilene Christian University’s
campus as well as a call for university engagement involving the grieving student population. One of the
biggest factors that could be enacted in order to better assist our grieving students is the creation of a policy
for grieving students. Within the university, there are no policies involving services and accommodations for
the grieving population enrolled. To best serve the students, policies need to be in place that all faculty, staff,
and students are aware of that identify the steps in assisting the grieving.
• https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2820&c
ontext=utk_graddiss A Study of Graduate Student Grief and Prolonged Grief Disorder
28

7. Next Steps:
GriefTech Initiative @
Stanford University
29

Good from Grief:
“When Leland Stanford and his wife Jane..
lost their only child…
they decided to build a university
as the most fitting memorial”
Mission, Purpose & Community:
Stanford University ,
as a university founded from grief located in one of the world’s
top technology innovation centers has
a unique and timely opportunity
to establish the leading center for the study of
How New Technologies
Impact the Grieving Process of People Worldwide
30

Next Steps: GriefTech Initiative @ Stanford University
• Establish a Senior Level Inter-Disciplinary Exploratory Committee with
Representatives from Key University Areas, Students, Alumni and Tech
Industry:
– Finance
– Alumni Affairs & Alumni Reps
– Human Resources
– Student Services & Student Reps
– Undergraduate Education
– School of Medicine
– Stanford Children’s Hospital
– School of Humanities & Sciences
– Department of Communications
– School of Education
– Tech Industry
– Other Industry Representation
– My Grief Angels
31

8. About:
www.MyGriefAngels.org
32

About: www.MyGriefAngels.org
• My Grief Angels ("MGA"), a Guidestar Platinum Level 501 (c) (3) public charity, is an online grief
support community of people coping with loss and helping each other by leveraging new
technologies to find the latest resources, education, information & shared experiences on grief
• Why?: Created & funded as response to the total lack of preparedness, education & knowledge
of grief and the grieving process by brothers educated at Stanford & Harvard and facing the
traumatic loss of their mother and their father’s PTSD to aggressive dementia response to his
grief.
• What?: Mission to provide anyone, anywhere grieving with free 24/7 online resources and tools
to help themselves learn more about grief, the grieving process, and how others like themselves
have gotten thru what will be one of the worst times for many of us and our families.
• How? Leveraging New Technologies and Distribution Channels to maximize reach worldwide
33

About: www.MyGriefAngels.org Today
• Yearly over 120,000 people grieving in the United States, Asia, Europe, Latin
America, Middle East & other countries use My Grief Angels’ site, free mobile
app, free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on “Grief: How It Can Kill or
Empower Us? And its resources on Grief & Our Health, Grief Attacks, Grief
Directory by Type of Loss Experienced, Good from Grief Book & others.
• Some of the group’s key accomplishments to date include:
– First Grief Support Proximity-based Mobile App developed & launched in
Google Play, Apple iTunes, Amazon & others with over 10,000 Downloads to
date.
– First free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on “Grief: How it Can Kill or
Empower Us” launched in the European Multiple Moocs Aggregator (EMMA)
platform & as of 2019 in the Happiness.com Academy
– First published collection of Grief Attack shared experiences and coping
strategies.
34

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