Bereavement assists patients, families, and significant others to have healthy grieving before, during, and after the loss of a loved one. Bereavement helps people identify strengths, difficulties, stressors, and coping skills that will make it easier for them to adapt to a significant loss.
- The difference between grief and bereavement
Some may think that grief and bereavement are the same, but they have different meanings. While grief is a normal reaction to a loss, bereavement is the period after which you experience grief. This difference might be confusing, but it is essential to understand that loss is a natural part of life and that all people will experience grief in response to loss. It is then that bereavement care is helpful.
- How does bereavement help?
It is important to remember that people react to a loss differently; responses can be emotional, social, physical, and spiritual. Emotional reactions usually include anger, guilt, anxiety, sadness, and despair, while physical reactions include sleeping problems, changes in appetite, or illness. Bereavement services help to understand people’s reactions while facing loss and provide support to help deal with grief.
Trained bereavement professionals can aid in dealing with grief and offer education and support. After learning about grief, understanding how it affects them, identifying coping strategies, and learning new methods to help themselves through grief, most people feel strengthened, encouraged, and supported.
- Bereavement under hospice care
Family caregivers of a hospice patient, or those close to them, have access to bereavement care for 13 months after the patient’s death as part of the Medicare hospice benefit. Services can include support groups, memorial services, informational and educational resources, counseling, and referrals to appropriate therapeutic and community resources. Depending on their situation, the needs of each person receiving bereavement support may vary, and so may their needs.
- Bereavement services often include:
Identify which family members need bereavement support.
Understanding family strengths, bereavement risk, and concerns and needs related to grief and loss.
Providing essential information and support through individual contacts, written materials, commemorative activities, social events, or support groups.
Entrusting families to address grief by identifying areas of resilience and support.
Directing families who need assistance with complicated bereavement, mental health, or other needs.
At Ascend Hospice Care, we are proud to provide the best service available, including grief management before and after a loved one passing. Please let us know if you or a family member require our assistance regarding bereavement or any other concern.
