School of Public Health

Education

• Ph.D. at Purdue University, 1987
• M.S. at Northern Illinois University, 1982
• B.A. at Northern Illinois University, 1971

Background

• President, Association for Death Education and Counseling, 2010-2011
• Board Member, International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement, 2006-2010
• Co-chair, 2007 ADEC Conference Planning Committee, 2007
• Member, Conference Planning Committee, NCFR, 2006-2008
• Visiting Professor, International Islamic University Malaysia, Summer 2006
• Fellow in Thanatology, Association for Death Education and Counseling, 2005-present
• Certified Family Life Educator, 2000-present
• Board Member, Association for Death Education and Counseling, 2000-2003
• Teaching Excellence Recognition Award (TERA), Indiana University Bloomington, 1997

Research

Bereavement; loss and grieving in the context of family; loss and meaning making; stress and resilience in the family; cross-national research; qualitative research.

Publications

Selected Recent Research Publications

Gilbert, K. R. & Gilbert, R. J. (In press). Echoes of loss: Long-term grief and adaptation among third culture kids. In Bell-Vilada, G., Sichel, N. & Eidse, F. (eds). Writing out of limbo: International childhoods, third-culture kids and global nomads. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing,

Gilbert, K. R., & Horsley, G. (In press). Technology and grief support in the twenty first century: A multimedia platform at www.opentohope.com. In Neimeyer, R, Winokuer, H., Harris, D., & Thornton, G. (Eds.). Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice (working title). New York, NY: Routledge.

Lang, A., Duhamel, F., Fleiszer, A., Sword, W., Aston, M., & Gilbert, K. (In press). Bereavement care best practice guideline: Nursing research project Toronto, Canada: Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario.

Lang, A., Duhamel, F., Fleiszer, A., Sword,W., Gilbert, K., & Aston, M. (2010). Developing a best practice guideline for primary bereavement care. [Abstract]. Journalof Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 39(5).

Gilbert, K. R. (Ed.), (2010). Annual edition: The family 11/12. Guilford, CT: McGraw Hill/Dushkin Pub. Group, Inc

Gilbert, K. R., Hieftje, K. D., & Murray, M. J. (2009). Disenfranchised grievers and the Internet: Alone and together across the distance. Grief Matters: The Australian Journal of Grief and Bereavement, (12), 36-39.

Gilbert, K. R. (2008). Loss and grief between and among cultures: The experience of third culture kids. Illness, Crisis and Loss, 16, 93-109.

Gilbert, K. R. & Hieftje, K. D. (2008). Health education on the web: Lessons learned. Eta Sigma Gamma, 25, 1-6.

Gilbert, K. R. & Murray, C. I. (2007). The family, larger systems, and death education. In Balk, D., et al. (Eds.). The handbook of thanatology. Northbrook, IL: Association for Death Education and Counseling.

Murray, C. I. & Gilbert, K. R. (2005). River of grief: Parents and siblings following child death, in Bengston, V. (Ed.) Sourcebook of family theory & research (pp.436-438). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Gilbert, K. R. (2005). When couples lose a child, in Catherall, D. R. (Ed.), Family stressors: Interventions for stress and trauma, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Gilbert, K. R. (2004). Death education on the "net": Development and delivery of "grief in a family context," in Cox, G. & Bendikson, R. (Eds.) Teaching the Sociology of dying and death (pp. 83-91), Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.

Gilbert, K. (2003). Death and dying. In Ponzetti, J. J. (Ed). International encyclopedia of marriage and family relationships, 2nd ed (pp. 390-394). New York, NY: Macmillan Reference, USA.

Gilbert, K. R. (Ed.) (2001). The emotional nature of qualitative research. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Gilbert, K. R., & Smart, L. S. (1992). Coping with infant or fetal loss: The couple's healing process. New York: Brunner/Mazel Pub. Co.

Gilbert, K. R. (2002). Taking a narrative approach to grief research: Finding meaning in stories. Death Studies, 26, 223-240.

Adams, R. A., Dollahite, D., Gilbert, K. R.,& Keim, R. (2001). The development of ethical guidelines and principles for the National Council on Family Relations. Family Relations, 50, 41-48.

Gilbert, K. R. (1996). 'We've had the same loss, why don't we have the same grief?' Loss and differential grief in families. Death Studies, 20, 269-283.

Courses Recently Taught

HPER-F 453/533 Family Life Education

HPER-F 557 Stress and Resilience in the Family and Community

HPER-F 560/460 Grief in a Family Context

HPER-F 617 Interpretive Qualitative Research

HPER-F 654 Conceptual Frameworks in Human Development & Family Studies