What sources of bereavement support are perceived helpful by bereaved people and why? Empirical evidence for the compassionate communities approach

Abstract

Aims:To determine who provides bereavement support in the community, what sources are perceived to be the most or least helpful and for what reason, and to identify the empirical elements for optimal support in developing any future compassionate communities approach in palliative care.Design:A population-based cross-sectional investigation of bereavement experiences. Sources of support (informal, community and professional) were categorised according to the Public Health Model of Bereavement Support; most helpful reasons were categorised using the Social Provisions Scale, and least helpful were analysed using inductive content analysis.Setting and participants:Bereaved people were recruited from databases of funeral providers in Australia via an anonymous postal survey (2013–2014).Results:In total, 678 bereaved people responded to the survey. The most frequently used sources of support were in the informal category such as family, friends and funeral providers. While the professional category sources were the least used, they had the highest proportions of perceived unhelpfulness whereas the lowest proportions of unhelpfulness were in the informal category. The functional types of helpful support were Attachment, Reliable Alliance, Social Integration and Guidance. The five themes for least helpful support were: Insensitivity, Absence of Anticipated Support, Poor Advice, Lack of Empathy and Systemic Hindrance.Conclusion:A public health approach, as exemplified by compassionate communities policies and practices, should be adopted to support the majority of bereaved people as much of this support is already provided in informal and other community settings by a range of people already involved in the everyday lives of those recently bereaved. This study has provided further support for the need to strengthen the compassionate communities approach, not only for end of life care for dying patients but also along the continuum of bereavement support.

Trauma to Transformation: the lived experience of bereaved parents of children with chronic life-threatening illnesses in Singapore

“…On the other hand, Asian parents in this study described their disenfranchised grief following the loss of their child whereby family members did not adequately acknowledge their grief and the intensity of their suffering (Sub-theme: Disenfranchised grief). In comparison, evidence suggests that emotional and psychological support from extended family members is an important coping resource for bereaved parents in the Western context [41]. It is reasonable to postulate that support from their extended family members and friends would have been helpful for Asian parents as they coped with the loss of their child, but it is possible that the uncommon nature of a child's death and its perception as a catastrophic event [42] as well as prevalent death taboos in the Asian culture [43] prevented parents from receiving such support.…”

“…Finally, the community attitudes encountered by parents in our study suggest that there is need for greater public awareness and psychoeducation on how friends and other family members can support grieving individuals. Such awareness programs could pave the path for a compassionate community that is sensitive to the unique emotional experience of child loss [41].…”

Trauma to Transformation: The Lived Experience of Bereaved Parents of Children with Chronic Life-Threatening Illnesses in Singapore

“…Finally, the community attitudes encountered by parents in our study suggest that there is need for greater public awareness and psychoeducation on how friends and other family members can support grieving individuals. Such awareness programs could pave the path for a compassionate community that is sensitive to the unique emotional experience of child loss [45].…”

Do chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) console a bereaved mother?

“…In human societies, tending of the dying and the treatment of the bereaved are typically governed by empathetic behavior, including increased targeted affiliation during and after such distressing events (Sinclair et al 2016;Aoun et al 2018;Bonanno 2009). In chimpanzees, however, these contexts are still understudied-partly due to the impossibility of applying an experimental approach, but also from an underappreciation of what we can learn from death-related behaviors in other species (Cronin et al 2011;Stewart et al 2012).…”

“…In human societies, there may also be extended forms of compassion directed to those deprived of a close relation through the death, such as kin and friends of the deceased. Bereaved individuals often receive increased social support and contact from their community upon losing a close social partner (Aoun et al 2018). The question of whether chimpanzees may change their behavior toward a bereaved group member is valuable to address, for it could elucidate shared evolutionary origins of such a response.…”