Bereavement services in acute care settings

Families of acute care patients who die while receiving care face loss and grief in unfamiliar institutional environments. Informal bereavement assist ance may occur in acute care settings, but formally organized service and p lanned follow-up work with bereaved family members is less common. A litera ture review revealed little discussion of acute care-related bereavement se rvices. The detrimental effects of long-term, unresolved grief, however, ar e well-documented. Bereavement services help to reduce immediate physical a nd emotional distress while ameliorating long-term morbidity associated wit h unresolved grief. They may also reduce eventual costs for services and di scomfort of illness by reducing the likelihood of stress-related illnesses occurring among survivors. Health care workers such as social workers, psyc hiatrists, chaplains, and nurses, who are familiar with the psychosocial ne eds of families and the structure and staffing of these settings, are well- positioned to organize assistance for those experiencing sudden loss. Devel oping a formal bereavement program in acute care settings involves descript ion of the need, presenting the rationale for the service, identification o f program elements, and determination of resource needs. Even in situations in which full services may not be possible, the provision of basic assessm ent and referral services will be beneficial to survivors while offering th e institution several benefits.