Bereavement needs assessment for specialist palliative care services has been highlighted as important by NICE guidance on palliative care for adults with cancer. Identifying and implementing appropriate bereavement measurement tools has remained a challenge. This paper identifies and reviews bereavement measurement tools to determine their suitability for use within bereavement services and ho...

Responding to D. E. Balk (2004) about use of the term recovery to describe bereavement outcome, the authors take the view that this term is inadequate. Among the points raised are (a) the term recovery may imply a response to psychological disorder, whereas bereavement responses are generally normative; (b) recovery does not easily allow for transformative outcomes in bereavement, e.g., posttra...

This article will examine how beveavement and widowhood affect wellbeing drawing on psychological, gerontological, and sociological research. The article will begin with an outline of what is meant by bereavement and widowhood. It will then present an overview of the effects that bereavement and widowhood has on wellbeing. In the next section, a brief history of approaches to bereavement will b...

Everyone experiences bereavement but few give prior thought to it. Knowing something about the possible reactions and repercussions of bereavement is the best preparation for it.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a devastating mass bereavement event, with measures to control the virus leading unprecedented changes end-of-life and mourning practices. In this review we consider research evidence on experiences of people bereaved during pandemic. We summarise key findings reported in first five publications from our UK-based Bereavement COVID-19 study, drawing comparisons ava...

In May 2013, the American Psychiatric Association released the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).1 One of the more controversial revisions in the DSM-5 is the elimination of the bereavement exclusion criterion for major depressive disorder (MDD), suggesting to some that grief is not a normal process. Within the DSM-IV, text revision,2 persons who...

Bereavement in the elderly is a concern to primary care physicians (PCPs) as it can lead to psychological illness such as depression. Most people are able to come to terms with their grief without any intervention, but some people are not. This case highlights the importance of early recognition of bereavement-related depressive illness in elderly people. PCPs need to optimise support and avail...

OBJECTIVE Following the loss of a loved one to cancer, a significant subset of bereaved family members are at heightened risk for mental and physical health problems; however, these family members often "fall through the cracks" of the healthcare system. A brief, clinically useful self-report bereavement risk-screening tool could facilitate more effective identification of family members in nee...

Psychiatric illness is a known hazard after a bereavement. Though bereavement counselling is effective in preventing morbidity, patients with morbid grief reactions are more difficult to treat, and the doctor needs to be skilled in confrontative and cathartic techniques.' I report on a patient who was both bereaved and became seriously ill as a result of that bereavement. To my knowledge this i...