Incorporating bereavement into the continuum of care

Incorporating bereavement into the continuum of care
Medpage Today, by Charles Bankhead; 4/4/24
... Despite being integral to high-quality, family-centered healthcare, bereavement support often is poorly resourced, even described as the "poor cousin of palliative care." ... To develop a framework for compassionate communities requires shifting bereavement care from "an afterthought to a public health priority," wrote Wendy G. Lichtenthal, PhD, of the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, and co-authors in Lancet Public Health. ... In an ideal setting, bereavement care begins with pre-death grief education, continues through the dying process and end of life, and transitions into community-based support and psychosocial services, as needed. .. The [continuum of care] model comprises five essential "pillars":

• Preventive bereavement care
• Ownership of bereavement care
• Resource allocation for bereavement care
• "Upskilling" support providers with bereavement education and training
• Evidence-based care
  
  

Editor's Note: The CMS Hospice Conditions of Particpation, Final Rule 2008 includes the word "bereavement/bereaved" 145 times. Furthermore, §418.3 defines: Bereavement counseling means emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual support and services provided before and after the death of the patient to assist with issues related to grief, loss, and adjustment.