Survey of Bereavement Care Provided by Home-Visit Nurses for Bereaved Families in Japan

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the implementation conditions of bereavement care for bereaved families and the relationship between demographics of home-visit nurses and rates of provision of bereavement care. Methods: A self-rating anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted with 2200 facilities randomly selected from among the members of the Home-visit Nursing Stations of the National Nursing Business Association. Calculating the rates of provision of each pre- and post-bereavement care item of the survey, we performed a multiple logistic regression analysis to investigate the relationship between the demographics of home-visit nurses and rates of provision of care. Statistical processing employed SPSS ver. 21.0 with the significance level set at 5%. Results: A total of 688 responses were collected (collection rate, 31.3%), and 649 were included in the analysis. “Approval of the care that the family has provided” and “Involvement in the care together with the family and listening to their thoughts” were frequently provided in both pre- and post-bereavement care;however, the rate of provision of “Provided continued support/life planning until the family fully recovers social life” was low. More care services were provided by home-visit nurses working in facilities with 24-hour services in pre-bereavement, and by those with longer home-visit nursing experience in post-bereavement. Conclusions: Home-visit nurses provide many post-bereavement care services. However, continued care that helps bereaved families fully recover their social life, including life planning, is less frequently provided. Bereavement care provision rates vary depending on the facility type, whether the facility offers 24-hour services, and the length of home-visit nursing experience.

Using narratives to express bereavement: An interview study on professional female writers experiences that in their middle age have lost their mothers

Objectives of the study were to increase the knowledge about women who in their middle age have lost their mothers and to investigate the therapeutic value of expressive writing in the grief process according to the women. Method: An interview was carried out with 18 professional female authors about their writings about death of a close relative, their mothers. They were asked to tell about the grief and what the writing meant to them. Results: All authors described in narratives. Some results were evident such as;feelings of relief by writing and their reflections and memories became clear. As authors of imaginative literature they were use to the process of writing. Conclusions: The evidence from this study offers useful information for nurses to plan and design programmes based on narrative structures in nursing care.

Is There Growth in Grief: Measuring Posttraumatic Growth in the Grief Response

Introduction: Grief is considered to be negative manifestations of affect, cognition, and behavior. However, persons who experience grief have also reported enduring positive outcomes in such domains as interpersonal relationships, personal strengths, and life perspectives. This review evaluated current measures of grief to determine if such positive outcomes can be adequately assessed. Methods: The Texas Revised Inventory of Grief, Grief Experience Inventory, Bereavement Phenomenology Questionnaire, Core Bereavement Items, Continuing Bonds Scale, and Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist (currently the most common measures of grief) are reviewed. Results: Only one of the reviewed measures assessed posttraumatic growth as a component of grief (i.e., Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist). Conclusion: Since posttraumatic growth and negative psychological adjustment after traumatic events can coexist, it is important that measures of grief used in both clinical and research domains allow an assessment of positive response.

Factors Related to Complicated Grief among Bereave Individuals after the Wenchuan Earthquake in China

Background： The Wenchuan earthquake in China caused shock and grief worldwide. Sudden bereavement caused by the earthquake led to physical disorders as well as psychological disturbances in the bereaved individuals. The bereaved had a high risk for complicated grief （CG）, which may have led to significant distress and impairment in their health. However, there was few available studies on CG among disaster-bereaved individuals in China after the disaster. The aim of this study was to identify factors （demographic characteristics and disaster-related variables） associated with symptoms of CG among the bereaved 18 months after the Wenchuan earthquake. Methods： This study was conducted with a cross-sectional design and a convenience sample of 271 bereaved individuals from three of the hardest hit areas. Data were collected by questionnaires and the instruments used in the study were： General questionnaire and Inventory of CG （ICG）. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with symptoms of CG. Results： The mean score on ICG was 52.77 （standard deviation： 10.00）. Being female and loss of a child were related to higher level of CG while having another child after the disaster and receiving psychological counseling experience were associated with lower level of CG. Forty-nine percent of the variance of CG was explained by these identified factors. Conclusions： Eighteen months after the Wenchuan earthquake, the symptoms of CG among the bereaved were higher than the previous studies with bereaved individuals. This study uncovers a vulnerable population of the bereaved at high risk for CG. Early assessments, targeted interventions, and policy support tailored for the disaster-bereaved individuals are necessary to identify and alleviate symptoms of CG and to improve their well-being.