Primary care providers' bereavement care practices: recommendations for research directions

Abstract

Objective Bereaved patients are often seen in primary care settings. While most do not require formal support, physicians may be called upon to provide support to some bereaved, particularly those with bereavement-related mental health disorders like complicated grief and bereavement-related depression. Research evidence on physician bereavement care is scant. We make recommendations for future research in this area. Design Literature review, focusing on studies conducted between 1996 and 2013 in the United States. Searches of Medline and PsychInfo, along with hand searches of reference sections, was conducted. Results The limited existing research indicates substantial gaps in the research literature, especially in the areas of primary care physician skill and capacity, patient-level outcomes, and the quality of research methodology. No U.S. studies have focused specifically on care for bereavement-related mental health disorders. We provide recommendations about how to improve research about primary care bereavement care. Conclusions The primary care sector offers ample opportunities for research on bereavement care. With greater research efforts, there may be improvements to quality of bereavement care in primary care, in general, and also to the accurate detection and appropriate referral for bereavement-related mental health conditions.

Predictors of Complicated Grief and Depression in Bereaved Caregivers: A Nationwide Prospective Cohort Study

“…23 Diverging results have been found regarding the extent of communication in the family about illness and death. 24,25 Complications during bereavement have been associated with specific sociodemographic factors: female sex, 4,5,16 spousal rather than parental relation, 2,16,26 and lower educational level. 2,26 Furthermore, old age was associated with high risk of CG in a population-based study, 16 whereas young age was associated with adverse bereavement outcome in a review.…”

“…24,25 Complications during bereavement have been associated with specific sociodemographic factors: female sex, 4,5,16 spousal rather than parental relation, 2,16,26 and lower educational level. 2,26 Furthermore, old age was associated with high risk of CG in a population-based study, 16 whereas young age was associated with adverse bereavement outcome in a review. 2 In sum, a range of personal and situational factors in the palliative care trajectory are likely to interplay in a complex manner and influence the bereavement outcome.…”

Perceptions of the cancer care left undone in primary and community services: A mixed methods evaluation

“…The findings suggest that training in bereavement and pre‐bereavement care would be valuable for primary and community staff. Primary care physician skills in bereavement care have been identified as an area that is understudied in the literature, and an area that may warrant further research (Ghesquiere, Patel, Kaplan, & Bruce, 2014).…”

Reflexões sobre a realização de entrevistas com viúvas enlutadas em pesquisas qualitativas

“…O fortalecimento da atenção primária no apoio ao luto é desejável na organização do sistema de cuidados. Evidenciou-se que existe uma alta prevalência de processos de luto entre idosos, e também a tendência da atenção primária em atuar como o principal nível de prestação de cuidado a esta população (GHESQUIERE et al, 2014). Também se destacou a valorização pelos cônjuges enlutados da consulta do médico de família como espaço de compartilhamento dos sentimentos do luto (BERGMAN; HALEY; SMALL, 2010).…”