COVID-19, Prolonged Grief Disorder and the role of social work

Johns, Lise; Blackburn, Pippa; McAuliffe, Donna

doi:10.1177/0020872820941032

Cited by 37 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The results show the perception of social workers of their relevant role for families and friends in alleviating the impact of the death of loved ones, for instance, in analyzing resilience [56]. This finding resonates with previous evidence about the psychological interventions to alleviate potential prolonged grief disorder [36].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…The organizational responses of social workers to the pandemic include very diverse actions, managing challenging situations such as contacting through video calls COVID-19 patients with their loved ones in the last moments. Concerning pre-death and post-death preparedness and organization of social workers, it is important to consider their relevant role to provide psychological interventions to alleviate potential prolonged grief disorder in the pandemic context [36]. Volunteers and civil society associations have supported social workers´tasks.…”

Section: Organizational Responses Of Social Workers In the Frontlinementioning

confidence: 99%

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Social Work during the COVID-19 Crisis: Responding to Urgent Social Needs

et al. 2020

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Social work during the COVID-19 crisis has faced one of the most challenging times to cover urgent social needs in an uncertain scenario. This study analyzes the immediate responses in social work to vulnerable groups in the first 15 days of the pandemic in Barcelona, one of the most affected areas worldwide by COVID-19. The sample for this qualitative study includes 23 semi-structured interviews with social workers from different fields of intervention, from general approaches (primary care) to specific ones (health, ageing, homeless, and justice). The data analysis followed the communicative methodology, including transformative and exclusionary dimensions, and the analytical categories focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social services users, the organizational responses of social workers, and the impact of the interventions to cover urgent social needs of attendees. The interventions have been accompanied by an improvement in communication channels with vulnerable groups, ensuring an understanding of the situation of families and individuals, and covering the most urgent social needs. The study shows the key role of social workers from diverse social attention tools and their contribution to the sustainability of social services with a long-term impact.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Organizational Responses Of Social Workers In the Frontlinementioning

confidence: 99%

Social Work during the COVID-19 Crisis: Responding to Urgent Social Needs

et al. 2020

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“…For example, Mortazavi et al (2020) described the impact of social distancing and isolation in Iran, relating this particular phenomenon to a potentiallyincreased prevalence of complicated grief. Quite a few writers have focused on CIVID-19 changes in burial/funeral practices, often describing the governmental policies that determine these, and suggesting how they may affect the grieving process and adaptation (e.g., Aguiar et al, 2020;Burrell & Selman, 2020;Johns et al, 2020;Mayland et al, 2020;O'Mahony, 2020). On the one hand, there are reality-confronting possibilities (of corona as well as mortality), on the other hand, the situation may lead to avoidance.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bereavement in Times of COVID-19: A Review and Theoretical Framework

2020

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A review of the literature on adaptation to bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted to assess the current state of knowledge. Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar databases were searched for studies published during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 outbreak. 44 articles were included in the review. Narrative synthesis showed that knowledge was largely based on expert assessments of prior bereavement research and professional experience; there is so far absence of empirical evidence linking features of COVID-19 bereavement situations to health outcomes. Severe negative consequences have been consistently predicted by authors. There is still relatively little consideration of positive or compensatory processes or the possibility that these could alleviate the effect of the shocking, traumatic circumstances. With two notable exceptions, there has been lack of attention to the role of theoretical models for guiding research and practice. A theoretical perspective (the Dual Process Model, DPM) was applied to the information derived from the available articles. Two features of the DPM framework illustrated its relevance: 1. It enables systematic assessment of the range of loss- and restoration-related challenges for the bereaved; 2. It speaks for extension of psychotherapeutic intervention to manage secondary, restoration- as well as primary, loss-oriented stressors; studies have demonstrated that this may increase the effectiveness of intervention. Directions for future research and DPM application are suggested.

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“…Researchers have raised concerns that the circumstances of COVID-19 related deaths will lead to a worldwide elevated prevalence of PGD cases (8,9). First, COVID-19 related deaths are usually unexpected, and the unexpectedness of death yielded higher levels of prolonged grief symptoms in Australian (10), Dutch (11), Japanese (12), Chinese (13), and Thai (14) bereaved individuals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the consensus that mental health professionals should pay attention to the rise of prolonged grief disorder after the COVID-19 pandemic (8,9) and call for evidence-based and culturally sensitive bereavement care for individuals bereaved during the pandemic (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24), no study speci cally focused on bereaved people and the impact that a death linked to a pandemic had on their subsequent grief before the COVID-19 (25). One recent empirical study included 49 Dutch individuals who experienced COVID-19 related bereavement showed that they reported more severe grief than people who experienced natural losses and equivalent levels of grief with people who experienced unnatural losses (26).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who Suffered Most After Deaths Due to COVID-19? Prevalence and Correlates of Prolonged Grief Disorder in COVID-19 Related Bereaved Adults

Tang

Xiang²

2020

Preprint

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Background: Deaths by COVID-19 have left behind nearly 12 million recent bereaved individuals worldwide and researchers have raised concerns that the circumstances of COVID-19 related deaths will lead to a rise prevalence of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) cases. However, to date, no studies have examined the prevalence of PGD among people bereaved due to COVID-19. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of PGD and investigated demographic and loss-related factors associated with prolonged grief symptoms among Chinese individuals bereaved due to COVID-19.Methods: This was a cross-sectional online survey conducted between September 1 and October 3, 2020. A total of 422 Chinese participants (55.5% males; 32.73 [9.31] years old) who lost a close person due to COVID-19 participated in the study. Demographic and loss-related information was collected, and self-reported prolonged grief symptoms were measured by a 13-item International Prolonged Grief Disorder Scale (IPGDS: 1–65) and a 17-item Traumatic Grief Inventory Self Report (TGI-SR: 1–85). Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the associated factors of levels of grief symptoms.Results: Prevalence of PGD was 37.8% screened by IPGDS and 39.9% by TGI-SR. No difference was found in levels of grief symptoms between participants whose close one died more than 6 months ago and those who experienced the loss less than 6 months ago. More severe prolonged grief symptoms was associated with losing a close person by COVID-19 rather than complications (B: 5.284; 95% CI: 0.521–10.047), losing a partner (B: 6.645; 95% CI: 2.547–10.743), child (B: 6.013; 95% CI: 0.128–11.899), parent (B: 5.554; 95% CI: 1.679–9.429), grandparent (B: 4.894; 95% CI: 0.690–0.097), feeling more traumatic about the loss (B: 1.574; 95% CI: 0.413–2.735), being closer to the deceased (B: 1.610; 95% CI: 0.368–2.851), and having more conflicts with the deceased (B: 0.743; 95% CI: -0.040–1.527).Conclusions: Echoing to researchers’ concerns, prevalence of PGD is high among people bereaved due to COVID-19. Individuals with higher risk of developing PGD should be identified and bereavement support should be offered as early as possible.

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COVID-19, Prolonged Grief Disorder and the role of social work

Cited by 37 publications

References 8 publications

Social Work during the COVID-19 Crisis: Responding to Urgent Social Needs

Social Work during the COVID-19 Crisis: Responding to Urgent Social Needs

Bereavement in Times of COVID-19: A Review and Theoretical Framework

Who Suffered Most After Deaths Due to COVID-19? Prevalence and Correlates of Prolonged Grief Disorder in COVID-19 Related Bereaved Adults

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