Question: Why did the death education movement originate? It was promoted as a means of shifting the responsibility for caring for the terminally ill from hospitals to family members. Gerontologists wanted a forum for discussing all aspects of the aging process, especially and including death and dying. It was a response to the tendency in Western societies to hide death and thereby keep it as an uncomfortable topic for discussion or examination. • It was mandated by a federal law passed in 1982. Need Assignment Help?