In 2026, eighteen years have passed since the Wenchuan earthquake. The will to live and the compassion that emerged from the ruins remain powerful resources for research and practice in thanatology. To commemorate the past, draw strength, and foster humanistic care through academic exchange, the 11th Chinese Contemporary Thanatology Conference was held from 15–17 May 2026 at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Wenchuan County, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Under the theme “Love and Rebirth,” the conference focused on post‑disaster life care, the construction of social support systems, and thanatology theory and practice. Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau (KWNC), as a supporting institution, attached great importance to the event and sent more than ten faculty members, students and alumni to participate, demonstrating the College’s sustained commitment and scholarly engagement in death education.

During the conference, KWNC participants actively engaged in academic exchange and presented several forward‑looking research projects covering adolescent life education, thanatology education for healthcare providers, nursing students’ attitudes toward death and self‑care, among other topics—highlighting the deep integration of nursing education and death education. Assistant Professor Li Xiang presented “Effectiveness Study of Adolescent Life Education Integrated into Family Dialogue,” sharing KWNC’s exploration in adolescent life education and providing empirical evidence for a family‑integrated model. Lecturer Hung Tan presented “The Application of Narrative Painting in Thanatology Education and Life Care for Healthcare Providers,” introducing an innovative practice using narrative painting as a medium. Assistant Professor Guo Yiqiang reported on “Nursing Students’ Attitudes towards Death and Palliative Care,” examining changes in students’ attitudes after clinical placements and reflecting on current death‑education curricula in nursing education, offering important references for future curriculum development. Professor Zhu Mingxia presented supervised graduate Chen Zhibing’s project, “A Conceptual Framework for Thanatology Education on Nursing Students’ Self‑Life Care Based on Experiential Learning Theory,” which develops a culturally appropriate experiential‑learning framework for death education and provides a theoretical basis for effective educational interventions. These presentations showcased the rigorous scholarship of KWNC’s graduate students and their deep engagement with thanatology topics.