Bereavement Care For Families

Grief is a family affair. When a loved one dies, the distress reverberates throughout the immediate and extended family. Family therapy has long attended to issues of loss and grief, yet not as the dominant therapeutic paradigm. Bereavement Care for Families changes that: it is a practical resource for the clinician, one that draws upon the evidence supporting family approaches to bereavement care and also provides clinically oriented, strategic guidance on how to incorporate family approaches into other models. Subsequent chapters set forth a detailed, research-based therapeutic model that clinicians can use to facilitate therapy, engage the ambivalent, deal with uncertainty, manage family conflict, develop realistic goals, and more. Any clinician sensitive to the roles family members play in bereavement care need look no further than this groundbreaking text.

Grief is a family affair. When a loved one dies, the distress reverberates throughout the immediate and extended family. Family therapy has long attended to issues of loss and grief, yet not as the dominant therapeutic paradigm. Bereavement Care for Families changes that: it is a practical resource for the clinician, one that draws upon the evidence supporting family approaches to bereavement care and also provides clinically oriented, strategic guidance on how to incorporate family approaches into other models. Subsequent chapters set forth a detailed, research-based therapeutic model that clinicians can use to facilitate therapy, engage the ambivalent, deal with uncertainty, manage family conflict, develop realistic goals, and more. Any clinician sensitive to the roles family members play in bereavement care need look no further than this groundbreaking text.

"To those of us who have been aware of the innovative service to families facing death and bereavement that has been developed by David W. Kissane and Sidney Bloch this book has been eagerly awaited. Their work is a logical development in the field of Palliative Care in which it has long been recognized that, when life is threatened, it is the family (which includes the patient) which is, or ought to be, the unit of care. The work also has great relevance for the wider field of bereavement care...all who work to help families at times of death and bereavement will find much to learn from this book which represents a useful addition to our understanding of the losses which, sooner or later, we all have to face." - Colin Murray Parkes Family members are often intimately involved in the care of dying people and themselves require support through both their experience of palliative care and bereavement. This innovative book describes a comprehensive model of family care and how to go about it - Family Focused Grief Therapy is an approach which is new, preventive, cost effective and with proven benefits to bereaved people. It describes a highly original and creative approach to bereavement care, one likely to revolutionize psychosocial care in oncology, hospice or palliative care and grief work. The book has been designed rather like a therapy manual, providing a step-by-step approach to assessment and intervention. Its rich illustration through many clinical examples brings the process of therapy alive for the reader, anticipating the common challenges that arise and describing how the therapist might respond. Families are recognised throughout as the central social unit, pivotal to the success of palliative care. Family Focused Grief Therapy will be of use to doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, pastoral care workers, psychiatrists and other allied health professionals who work in caring for the dying and for their bereaved relatives. Based soundly on a decade of internationally regarded research, this book will alter the direction of future medical practice and is destined to become a classic in its field.

The death of a child is a special sorrow. No matter the circumstances, a child's death is a life-altering experience. Except for the child who dies suddenly and without forewarning, physicians, nurses, and other medical personnel usually play a central role in the lives of children who die and their families. At best, these professionals will exemplify "medicine with a heart." At worst, families' encounters with the health care system will leave them with enduring painful memories, anger, and regrets. When Children Die examines what we know about the needs of these children and their families, the extent to which such needs areâ€"and are notâ€"being met, and what can be done to provide more competent, compassionate, and consistent care. The book offers recommendations for involving child patients in treatment decisions, communicating with parents, strengthening the organization and delivery of services, developing support programs for bereaved families, improving public and private insurance, training health professionals, and more. It argues that taking these steps will improve the care of children who survive as well as those who do notâ€"and will likewise help all families who suffer with their seriously ill or injured child. Featuring illustrative case histories, the book discusses patterns of childhood death and explores the basic elements of physical, emotional, spiritual, and practical care for children and families experiencing a child's life-threatening illness or injury.

For many bereaved parents, the care provided by health professionals at birth – from midwives to antenatal teachers – has a crucial effect on their response to a loss or death. This interactive workbook is clearly applied to practice and has been designed to help practitioners deliver effective bereavement care. Providing care to grieving parents can be demanding, difficult and stressful, with many feeling ill equipped to provide appropriate help. Equipping the reader with fundamental skills to support childbearing women, partners and families who have experienced childbirth-related bereavement, this book outlines: What bereavement is and the ways in which it can be experienced in relation to pregnancy and birth Sensitive and supportive ways of delivering bad news to childbearing women, partners and families Models of grieving How to identify when a bereaved parent may require additional support from mental health experts Ongoing support available for bereaved women, their partners and families The impact on practitioners and the support they may require How to assess and tailor care to accommodate a range of spiritual and religious beliefs about death. Written by two highly educated, experienced midwifery lecturers, this practical and evidence-based workbook is a valuable resource for all midwives, neonatal nurses and support workers who work with women in the perinatal period. This book is suitable as a text for BSc and MSc courses in Midwifery; BScs courses in Paediatric Nursing; and for neonatal and bereavement counselling courses.

The authors explain how Kubler-Rosss famous "Five Stages of Dying" apply directly to mourners themselves. In this, her final book, completed shortly before her death, the authors own experiences and spiritual insight explain how the grief process helps survivors live with loss.

Recent years have seen increasing interest in the needs of children facing bereavement, and a corresponding increase in services to support them. This book addresses and explains the theoretical concepts and practical implications behind the idea of brief work with bereaved children and families. Flexible and accessible short term services delivered at the right time underpin the strengths of bereaved children, supporting their recovery rather than pathologising the grief process.In this way the book also speaks to the current interest in the concept of resilience and working with families' strengths and possibilities, rather than merely identifying their problems.This second edition continues to be a unique book within the growing filed of childhood bereavement, and the new chapters added to this edition discuss managing situations with learning disability, supporting very young children and emotional literacy. The book also presents cases from the service user's perspective. It looks at different approaches to intervention, such as the importance of assessment and the value of groupwork, and also covers work with children and families before a death.Brief interventions with bereaved children will appeal to practitioners, educators and service providers managing scarce resources. The editors have more than twenty-five years experience as practitioners within the field, as service providers and educators. The book features chapters from distinguished contributors with backgrounds in healthcare, education, social work and the police, alongside theoretical and practice-based chapters from workers in the field of bereavement care forchildren.

Grief is a very individual experience and it can impact all aspects of a person's life. Parents and Bereavement: A Personal and Professional Exploration of Grief brings together latest research and practice from the pioneering children and young adults' hospice - Helen and Douglas House, alongside the personal experience of a parent. The book includes information on a range of challenges faced by parents, including supporting surviving children, making challenging decisions about subsequent pregnancies, managing the impact of grief on relationships, and facing birthdays and anniversaries. It discusses both, the theories and the day-to-day experience of grief, and what might make a difference to how people manage it. This will be an invaluable resource for professionals involved in supporting families with end of life care and bereavement issues, including palliative care professionals, counsellors, and social workers. Parents and Bereavement will also help parents, family, and friends to understand and support each other through such loss.