Literature Review

Interventions for bereavement-What works, what does not, and what mightJAMA Psychiatry; by Charles F. Reynolds III, Holly G. Prigerson, M. Katherine Shear, Sidney Zisook; 4/26The 2025 publication commissioned by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of a systematic review of “Interventions to Improve Care of Bereaved Persons” provides a timely opportunity to continue—and to deepen—a conversation of great importance about the universal experience of grief and its burdens, both personal and related to public health. The report was prepared at the Southern California Evidence-Based Practice Center in Los Angeles; it aimed to review available evidence on screening, diagnosing, and treating children and adults with grief disorders related to bereavement. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration convened an independent subject matter advisory panel to assess the feasibility of developing standards for high-quality bereavement and grief care.  

Iowa City Hospice hosts Walk for Dignity KCRG-9 ABC News, Iowa City, IA; by Lacey Reeves; 4/26/26 People in Iowa City walked through Willow Creek Park on Saturday in memory of loved ones who died after receiving hospice care. Iowa City Hospice hosts a Walk for Dignity every year to raise money to provide free end-of-life care to people who need it. ... “We give over $250,000 a year in unreimbursed hospice care to people in our community who don’t have insurance, because we believe that if you’re dying, you shouldn’t have to worry about how you’re going to pay for your health care,” said Sara Krieger, CEO of Iowa City Hospice. ... As the families walked, they passed by memory lane with yard signs with photos of people who have died.

Engaging bereaved parent educators in pediatric end-of-life workshops: A trauma-informed onboardingJournal of Pain & Symptom Management; by Kayla Solstad, Dannell Shu, Kelly McManimon, Stacy Remke, Susan O'Conner-Von, Anne Woll, Joseph M Miller, Miriam C Shapiro, Johannah M Scheurer; 3/26Recognizing that pediatric end-of-life (EOL) scenarios occur infrequently and are distressing for trainees and other healthcare team members, our group created pediatric end-of-life care skills (PECS) simulation-based workshops to improve trainee competence for these skills. We  ... provide interprofessional workshops, including trainees from the pediatric residency program, graduate school of nursing, and graduate school of social work. Since creation of the workshops, the group and curricula have benefited immensely from including the expertise of bereaved parent educators (BPEs), who have experienced the death of their own infant or child and have been integral team members ... from workshop creation through facilitation. Research shows that families who have experienced the death of a child appreciate an interdisciplinary approach to their care and communication at the EOL. When parents of pediatric patients were asked about priorities in EOL care, they highlighted the importance of communication, emotional expression and support by staff, and ready access to multi-disciplinary staff.

Association for Death Education and Counseling celebrates 50 years of advancing grief education and end-of-life understanding ADEC - Association for Death Education and Counseling; Press Release; 4/9/26 The Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC®), The Thanatology Association®, is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking five decades of leadership in the interdisciplinary study of death, dying, and bereavement. ... Looking toward the future, ADEC envisions a world in which dying, death, and bereavement are recognized as fundamental aspects of the human experience rather than topics hidden from public conversation. The organization continues to expand its international reach and public engagement. Through initiatives such as the 50 Futures Global Fund, ADEC will support the distribution of digital grief education resources, training opportunities, and micro-grants to communities around the world.

Westhampton teen's care packages honor her late father WN.com - Newsday; by Michael R. Ebert; 3/29/26 ... Elizabeth Sultan, a junior at Westhampton Beach High School, recently spearheaded a program called Peter's Packages, named in honor of her father, Peter, who died last year at 54 after suffering a heart attack while competing in the Jamesport Triathlon. Sultan's initiative provides curated care packages that contain items ranging from books to blankets. She said she was inspired to launch the effort after she and her brother, William, received similar comfort items from community members following their father's death.

Cleaning reframes end‑of‑life care for mental health The Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia, PA; by Lynn Akesson; 3/28/26... At its core, death cleaning is a decluttering practice: going through one’s belongings with the intention of reducing what survives us. But its appeal lies less in organization than in its promise of emotional relief. By transforming an abstract fear — leaving chaos behind — into a meaningful act of care, death cleaning reframes preparation for death as a process that can support psychological well-being in life. Editor's Note: For a related caregiving video specific to bereavement, visit "Re-Membering: Scrap 'Em, Store 'Em, or Stitch 'Em Together, by Composing Life Out of Loss (disclosure, a newsletter sponsor)

Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley grief services coordinator discusses deeper meaning for spring cleaning North Country Now, Potsdam, NY; by Kate Favaro; 3/26/26 There is something about those first few spring days in the North Country that makes us want to throw all the windows up and let in the fresh air and sunlight. Spring cleaning has become a ritual of sorts. ... Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley offers the following when considering a deeper meaning behind spring cleaning: ... widen your idea of what spring cleaning can involve. Start with the basics and work out from there. Clean out a drawer. Label a photograph. Update a document or password. Tell a trusted person where they can find the important papers. Sometimes the most meaningful spring cleaning happens where no one else can see it, but everyone you love will one day feel its impact.

Facing loss & cancer: A daughter’s dual grief  Time.News; by Ethan Brooks; 3/22/26 ... We hadn’t told the kids yet. There was nothing definitive to say, only a growing dread. I braced myself to project a semblance of cheerfulness when Molly and Henry returned from their tournament, but it proved unnecessary. My sister called with news that eclipsed everything: our father was dying. Both our parents, long divorced, were in hospice, on opposite coasts. My mother’s decline had begun in June, but my father’s was swift, a mere week in the making and we hadn’t anticipated him going first.

Lanterns shine light on spiritual, financial help Fort Worth nonprofit gives to terminally ill FWR - Fort Worth Report, Fort Worth, TX; by Marissa Greene; 2/16/26 Nestled within a grove of trees, more than 300 lanterns twinkled around the perimeter of the Keith House on a recent evening in the Clearfork neighborhood. The pulsing glow of the tealight candle inside each white paper bag illuminated a first name and last initial inscribed into the front of the lantern. Each name represented a patient served by Project 4031, a faith-based nonprofit aiming to provide peace and comfort to terminally ill children, adults and families facing end-of-life challenges by easing financial burdens and fulfilling last wishes. 

Bridging the differences in care for grieving people: Worden's differentiation between grief counseling and grief therapyDeath Studies; by Mark D de St Aubin, William G Hoy; 2/26Worden's (1982, 2018) landmark textbook on caring for bereaved individuals differentiated grief counseling from grief therapy, defining the former as the efforts of both professional and lay caregivers to support bereaved people in normal grief. Grief therapy, he posited, is the more structured intervention offered by credentialed caregivers to support individuals coping with a more complicated experience of mourning. In this article, the authors explain Worden's perspective, describe his types of complicated mourning for which grief therapy might be warranted, and offer clinical application to the approaches Worden takes.

Chronic pain and unrecognized grief: epistemic barriers to personal and social recognition Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy; by Christopher Jude McCarroll, Ying-Tung Lin, Dominik Koesling, and Claudia Bozzaro; 3/29/26 What is it to grieve? What is the nature of grief? ... Importantly, a close examination of the phenomenology of chronic pain helps illuminate the ways in which it also involves the kind of losses that we can grieve over. The losses involved in experiences of chronic pain impact one’s practical identity in ways that can lead to grief. This chronic pain grief remains largely unrecognized, however. We outline four epistemic barriers to recognizing the grief involved in experiences of chronic pain. ...

Themed digest for palliative care professionals: Spiritual support for children ehospice | PACED; February 2026 Spiritual support remains one of the most complex and, at the same time, most essential elements of palliative care. In the February PACED digest, we present articles exploring the integration of spiritual care into nursing practice, families’ experiences in paediatric palliative care, and the role of professionals in discussing end-of-life issues with children and adolescents. This issue includes materials on professional competencies, system-level recommendations, and parents’ lived experiences. Together, they offer insight into how spiritual and value-based questions shape clinical practice and influence the quality of support provided to families. ...

Handmade patchwork quilts bring comfort to Taree palliative care patients and their families ABC - New South Wales, Australia; by Emma Siossian; 2/21/26 Kaye-Maree Hinton's husband Garry was in end-of-life care with a rare type of brain cancer, when a nurse laid a bright, handmade quilt over his hospital bed. Ms. Hinton, 62, says the simple act of kindness provided a spark of colour and comfort in the stark and sterile hospital environment. ... "It was so comforting … to cover him with something so beautiful, instead of just hospital sheets and hospital blankets in cold, stark white." ... The quilt is now set to become a family heirloom, already laid in a crib ready for the upcoming birth of Ms. Hinton's newest grandchild. ... Recently the project surpassed a total of 2,000 donated quilts.