Skip to main content

Grief and Bereavement

Textbook of Palliative Care
  • 446 Accesses

Abstract

In spite of grief and bereavement being fundamental to high-quality palliative care, grief and bereavement care is often under-resourced and haphazard and fails to reflect contemporary evidence. This chapter will examine a number of approaches to evidence-informed bereavement care and explore some of the seismic shifts that have taken place in our understanding and response to the grieving and bereaved. The chapter will conclude with an examination of complications in bereavement and what might be considered best practice in providing bereavement support in the palliative setting.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed. Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2013.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Arthur A, Wilson E, James M, et al. Bereavement care services: a synthesis of the literature. London: Department of Health and Social Care; 2011. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bereavement-care-services-a-synthesis-of-the-literature

    Google Scholar 

  • Barak A, Hen L, Boniel-Nissim M, Shapira N. A comprehensive review and a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of internet-based psychotherapeutic interventions. J Technol Hum Serv. 2008;26:109–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boelen P, Prigerson H. The influence of prolonged grief disorder, depression and anxiety on quality of life among bereaved individuals: a prospective study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2007;257:444–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boelen PA, Van Den Hout MA, Van Den Bout J. A cognitive-behavioral conceptualization of complicated grief. Clin Psychol Sci Pract. 2006;13(2):109–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonanno GA, Kaltman S. The varieties of grief experience. Clin Psychol Rev. 2001;21(5):705–34.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bonanno GA, Wortman CB, Lehman DR, Tweed RG, Haring M, Sonnega J, Carr D, Nesse RM. Resilience to loss and chronic grief: a prospective study from pre-loss to 18 months post-loss. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2002;83:1150–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonanno GA, Wortman CB, Nesse RM. Prospective patterns of resilience and maladjustment during widowhood. Psychol Aging. 2004;19:260–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowlby J. Attachment and loss: Vol. 3. Loss: sadness and depression. New York: Basic Books; 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breen LJ, O’Connor M. The fundamental paradox in the grief literature: a critical reflection. Omega. 2007;55(3):199–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruinsma SM, Tiemeier HW, Heemst JV, van der Heide A, Rietjens JA. Risk factors for complicated grief in older adults. J Palliat Med. 2015;18(5):438–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Currier JM, Neimeyer RA, Berman JS. The effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions for bereaved persons: a comprehensive quantitative review. Psychol Bull. 2008;134(5):648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Datson SL, Marwit SJ. Personality constructs and perceived presence of deceased loved ones. Death Stud. 1997;21:131–46.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davis CG, Nolen-Hoeksema S, Larson J. Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: two construals of meaning. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1998;75(2):561–74.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • De Lima L, Bennett MI, Murray SA, Hudson P, Doyle D, Bruera E, Granda-Cameron C, Strasser F, Downing J, Wenk R. International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) list of essential practices in palliative care. J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother. 2012;26(2):118–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demmer C. A national survey of hospice bereavement services. OMEGA-J Death Dying. 2003;47(4):327–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doka KJ, editor. Disenfranchised grief: new directions, challenges, and strategies for practice. Champaign: Research Press; 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Downe-Wamboldt B, Tamlyn D. An international survey of death education trends in faculties of nursing and medicine. Death Stud. 1997;21(2):177–88.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Field NP. Unresolved grief and continuing bonds: an attachment perspective. Death Stud. 2006;30:739–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freud S. Mourning and melancholia. In: The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud, (ed. & trans: Strachey J), vol. 14. London: Hogarth Press; 1957. p. 152–170. (Original work published 1917).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fujisawa D, Miyashita M, Nakajima S, Ito M, Kato M, Kim Y. Prevalence and determinants of complicated grief in general population. J Affect Disord. 2010;127:352–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg DP, Gater R, Sartorius N, Ustun TB, Piccinelli M, Gureje O, Rutter C. The validity of two versions of the GHQ in the WHO study of mental illness in general health care. Psychol Med. 1997;27(1):191–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grunfeld E, Coyle D, Whelan T, Clinch J, Reyno L, Earle CC, Willan A, Viola R, Coristine M, Janz T. Family caregiver burden: results of a longitudinal study of breast cancer patients and their principal caregivers. Can Med Assoc J. 2004;170(12):1795–801.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guldin M-B, Murphy I, Keegan O, Monroe B, Lacaste Reverte M, Benkel I. Bereavement care provision: a survey by the EAPC Bereavement Care Taskforce. Eur J Palliat Care. 2015;22(4):185–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall C, Hudson P, Boughey A. Bereavement support standards for specialist palliative care services. Melbourne: Department of Health; 2012. Retrieved from https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/Api/downloadmedia/%7B8E822C95-2A0C-45DA-AFEA-E39326BCDBFB%7D

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland JM, Neimeyer RA, Boelen PA, Prigerson HG. The underlying structure of grief: a taxometric investigation of prolonged and normal reactions to loss. J Psychopathol Behav Assess. 2009;31(3):190–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz MJ, Siegel B, Holen A, Bonanno GA, Milbrath C, Stinson CH. Diagnostic criteria for complicated grief disorder. Am J Psychiatr. 1997;154(7):904–10.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson P. Improving support for family carers: key implications for research, policy and practice. Palliat Med. 2013;27(7):581–2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson P, Thomas K, Trauer T, Remedios C, Clarke D. Psychological and social profile of family caregivers on commencement of palliative care. J Pain Symptom Manag. 2011;41(3):522–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson P, Trauer T, Kelly B, O’Connor M, Thomas T, Summers M, Zordan R, White V. Reducing the psychological distress of family caregivers of home based palliative care patients: longer term effects from a randomised controlled trial. Psycho-Oncology. 2015;24(1):19–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keesee NJ, Currier JM, Neimeyer RA. Predictors of grief following the death of one’s child: the contribution of finding meaning. J Clin Psychol. 2008;64(10):1145–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kersting A, Brahler E, Glaesmer H, Wagner B. Prevalence of complicated grief in a representative population-based sample. J Affect Disord. 2011;131:339–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kissane DW, Bloch S. Family focused grief therapy. Buckingham: Open University Press; 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kissane DW, Hooghe A. Family therapy for the bereaved. In: Neimeyer RA, et al., editors. Grief and bereavement in contemporary society. New York: Routledge; 2011. p. 287–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kissane DW, Parnes F, editors. Bereavement care for families. New York: Routledge; 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klass D, Steffen EM, editors. Continuing bonds in bereavement: new directions for research and practice. New York: Routledge; 2018.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klass D, Silverman PR, Nickman SL, editors. Continuing bonds: new understandings of grief. Washington, DC: Taylor and Francis; 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kosminsky PS, Jordan JR. Attachment-informed grief therapy: the clinician’s guide to foundations and applications. New York: Taylor & Francis; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kübler-Ross E. On death and dying. New York: Macmillan; 1969.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latham AE, Prigerson HG. Suicidality and bereavement: complicated grief as psychiatric disorder presenting greatest risk for suicidality. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2004;34(4):350–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malkinson R. Cognitive grief therapy: constructing a rational meaning to life following loss. New York: Norton; 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mather MA, Good PD, Cavenagh JD, Ravenscroft PJ. Survey of bereavement support provided by Australian palliative care services. Med J Aust. 2008;188(4):228–30.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe CJ, Thomas KJ, Brazier JE, Coleman P. Measuring the mental health status of a population: a comparison of the GHQ-12 and the SF-36 (MHI-5). Br J Psychiatry. 1996;169(4):516–21.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morris SE, Block SD. Adding value to palliative care services: the development of an institutional bereavement program. J Palliat Med. 2015;18(11):915–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nadeau JW. Families making sense of death. Thousand Oaks: Sage; 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care. Clinical practice guidelines for quality palliative care. 3rd ed. Pittsburgh: National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care; 2013. Retrieved from https://www.nationalcoalitionhpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/NCP_Clinical_Practice_Guidelines_3rd_Edition.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN clinical practice guidelines in oncology (NCCN guidelines): distress management. United Kingdom: Publisher; 2013. Retrieved from https://www.nccn.org/professionals/default.aspx

  • National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). Guidance on cancer services: improving supportive and palliative care for adults with cancer. London: National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE); 2004. Available from https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/csg4

    Google Scholar 

  • Neimeyer RA. Searching for the meaning of meaning: grief therapy and the process of reconstruction. Death Stud. 2000;24:541–58.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neimeyer RA, editor. Meaning reconstruction and the experience of loss. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neimeyer RA, editor. Techniques of grief therapy: creative practices for counseling the bereaved. New York: Routledge; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neimeyer RA, Burke LA. Complicated grief and the end-of-life: risk factors and treatment considerations. In: Counseling clients near the end-of-life. New York: Springer; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neimeyer RA, Sands DC. Meaning reconstruction in bereavement: from principles to practice. In: Neimeyer RA, Harris DL, Winokuer HR, Thornton GF, editors. Grief and bereavement in contemporary society: bridging research and practice. New York: Routledge; 2011. p. 9–22.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor MF, Wellisch DK, Stanton AL, Eisenberger NI, Irwin MR, Lieberman MD. Craving love? Enduring grief activates brain’s reward center. NeuroImage. 2008;42(2):969–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parkes CM, Weiss RS. Recovery from bereavement. New York: Basic Books; 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pasternak R, Reynolds C, Schlernitzauer M. Acute open-trial nortriptyline therapy of bereavement-related depression in late life. J Clin Psychiatry. 1991;52:307–10.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prigerson HG, Jacobs S. Caring for bereaved patients: “all the doctors just suddenly go”. JAMA. 2001;286(11):1369.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prigerson H, Maciejewski ML. The inventory of complicated grief. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Center for Psychooncology & Palliative Care Research. 2012; 13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prigerson H, Vanderwerken C. A case for the inclusion of prolonged grief disorder in DSM-V. Am Psycholo Assoc. 2008;xiv:658.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prigerson HG, Bierhals AJ, Kasl SV, Reynolds CF, Shear MK, Newsom JT, Jacobs S. Complicated grief as a disorder distinct from bereavement-related depression and anxiety: a replication study. Am J Psychiatr. 1996;153(11):1484–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prigerson HG, Shear MK, Jacobs SC, Reynolds CF, Maciejewski PK, Davidson JR, et al. Consensus criteria for traumatic grief: a preliminary empirical test. Br J Psychiatry. 1999;174:67–73.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prigerson H, Horowitz M, Jacobs S, Parkes C, Aslan M, Goodkin K, Raphael B, Marwit S, Wortman G, Neimeyer R, et al. Prolonged grief disorder: psychometric validation of criteria proposed for DSM-V and ICD-11. PLoS Med. 2009;6(8):e1000121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schut H, Stroebe MS. Interventions to enhance adaptation to bereavement. J Palliat Med. 2005;8:140–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sealey M, Breen LJ, O’Connor M, Aoun SM. A scoping review of bereavement risk assessment measures: implications for palliative care. Palliat Med. 2015;29(7):577–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro ER. Grief in interpersonal perspective: theories and their implications. In: Stroebe MS, Hansson RO, Stroebe W, Schut H, editors. New handbook of bereavement: consequences, coping and care. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shear MK. The treatment of complicated grief. Grief Matters. 2006;9(2):39–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shear MK, Simon N, Wall M, Zisook S, Neimeyer R, Duan N, … Keshaviah A. Complicated grief and related bereavement issues for DSM-5. Depress Anxiety. 2001; 28(2):103–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shear K, Frank E, Houck PR, Reynolds CF. Treatment of complicated grief: a randomized controlled trial. J Am Med Assoc. 2005;293(21):2601–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stroebe M, Boerner K. Caregiving and bereavement research: bridges over the gap. Palliat Med. 2015;29(7):574–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stroebe MS, Schut H. The dual process model of coping with bereavement: rationale and description. Death Stud. 1999;23(3):197–224.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stroebe MS, Schut H, Stroebe W. Health outcomes of bereavement. Lancet. 2007;370(9603):1960–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stroebe M, Schut H, Boerner K. Cautioning health-care professionals: bereaved persons are misguided through the stages of grief. Omega. 2017;74(4):455–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner B, Knaevelsrud C, Maercker A. Internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for complicated grief: a randomized controlled trial. Death Stud. 2006;30:429–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wittouck C, Van Autreve S, De Jaegere E, Portzky G, van Heeringen K. The prevention and treatment of complicated grief: a meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2011;31(1):69–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worden JW. Grief counseling and grief therapy: a handbook for the mental health practitioner. 4th ed.New York: Springer; 2008.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. Planning and implementing palliative care services: a guide for programme managers. 2016. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/ncds/management/palliative-care/palliative_care_services/en/

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher Hall .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Hall, C. (2018). Grief and Bereavement. In: MacLeod, R., Van den Block, L. (eds) Textbook of Palliative Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31738-0_33-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31738-0_33-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31738-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31738-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Grief and Bereavement Support in Palliative Care
    Published:
    18 January 2024

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31738-0_33-2

  2. Original

    Grief and Bereavement
    Published:
    07 September 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31738-0_33-1