title: Family grief therapy: a preliminary account of a new model to promote healthy family functioning during palliative care and bereavement.
abstract: The family is usually the primary provider of care for the terminally ill patient with cancer or other serious progressive illness. The way in which such a family functions is a major determinant of psychological well-being for its members. Through screening with the Family Relationships Index (FRI) (Moos and Moos, 1981), dysfunctional families and those at risk can be identified, and then helped to achieve better family functioning, thus improving psychosocial outcome of their grief. In this paper, we describe the techniques and themes involved in the application of our empirically developed model of family grief therapy, designed as a preventive intervention for use in the setting of palliative care and bereavement.
authors.affiliation: University of Melbourne Center for Palliative Care, Australia.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kissane
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bloch
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McKenzie
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: McDowall
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nitzan
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001601:Bereavement; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012307:Risk Factors; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology