Bereavement care during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic presents significant challenges to the experience of death, dying and bereavement. Due to social isolation measures people may be unable to visit dying loved ones in hospital, to view the deceased person’s body, and to carry out funeral proceedings in the usual way. Those bereaved during this period may feel especially isolated and unable to access the social support that would normally be of great support. The sudden and unexpected nature of some deaths and the difficulty for families and friends to ‘say goodbye’ may lead to an increase in complicated or prolonged grief reactions.

This project aims to understand the ways in which Primary Care and other bereavement support services have adapted to support people who are bereaved during this period.

We will use this information to help us to develop a further research study in which we will talk to people who have been bereaved during the pandemic.