Bereavement Management - Description, Assessment and Care

University of Aarhus

Status: Completed

Conditions: Grief; Bereavement

Treatments: Other: Prognostic screening for complicated grief

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Industry

Identifiers

NCT01292512

Bereavement Management.

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to develop a risk assessment tool to identify bereaved in risk of complicated grief reactions and to implement a bereavement management programme in primary health care based on the Dual Process Model of coping with bereavement. Furthermore to enhance bereavement care in general practice and to enhance patients' self-management in bereavement care.

Full description

In Denmark alone there are approximately 55.000 deaths annually which leave approximately 200.000 bereaved close relatives. International studies show that 10-15% of bereaved persons develop complications following the death of a close relative. If those studies hold true, approximately 20 - 30.000 individuals annually will develop complications as a result of suffering a loss, and there is hardly any knowledge of how bereavement is treated or even legitimized in primary care and referred on to specialized (psychological or psychiatric) care. The field of bereavement is in need of studies that validate the theoretical underpinnings of the research area, enhanced assessment of predictive risk factors and updated intervention methods: in short a scientifically valid management programme.

Enrollment: 402 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Newly bereaved from one of the inclusion facilities.
• 18 years or older.
• Danish citizen.
• Able to understand and speak Danish.
• Informed consent.
• Mentally able to cooperate

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with known substance abuse.
• Patients with recently (within 5 years) diagnosed psychopathological disorders that trigger psychotic episodes.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Diagnostic

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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402 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention group

Experimental group

Description:

A) Professional level. B) Patient level. Intervention Professional level: General Practitioners (GP) receive updated information on bereavement related symptoms, how to identify complicated grief, and the Dual Process Model (DPM) of coping. GPs receive suggestions on how to provide psycho-educational support for the patient. GPs are informed about the results of the initial assessment of their patient prognostic screening for complicated grief. Patient level: Patients receive updated information on bereavement related symptoms, the DPM of coping and suggestions on when to seek professional help. Patients are informed of the results of their initial assessment of their prognostic grief screening. Patients are encouraged to contact their GP if they worry about handling their bereavement reaction.

Treatment:

Other: Prognostic screening for complicated grief

Control group

Other group

Description:

Treatment as usual (in the Danish health care system).

Treatment:

Other: Prognostic screening for complicated grief