"A rewarding conclusion of the relationship": staff members' perspectives on providing bereavement follow-up.
OBJECTIVE
Staff members in palliative home care play an important role in supporting bereaved family members. The aim of this study was to explore staff members' perspectives on providing such support.


METHODS
Staff members in six units responded (n=120; response rate 58%) to a postal questionnaire with Likert-type and open-ended questions. The responses were analyzed using statistics and manifest content analysis.


RESULTS
None of the respondents stated that bereavement follow-up was "most often difficult," 23% "most often rather difficult," 52.5% "most often rather easy," and 12.5% "most often easy." Apart from a tendency for age to be linked to perceived difficulty, there were no apparent patterns. Bereavement follow-up was a positive opportunity to support the family member's coping with their bereavement and to get feedback on the palliative care provided. Critical aspects concerned the question of whose needs actually were being met at bereavement follow-up, i.e., the staff members' needs for getting feedback on the care provided versus the risk of burdening the family members' by reminding them of the deceased's dying trajectory. Aspects that negatively influenced the staff members' experiences were complex and related, e.g., to the family member's dissatisfaction with the care provided, to the staff member's perceived lack of competence, and to the staff member's relationship to the family member.


CONCLUSIONS
Bereavement follow-up was perceived as a rewarding conclusion to the relationship with the family member. The findings suggest that meaning-based coping might be an appropriate framework when understanding staff members' experiences with providing bereavement follow-up.
Milberg
Anna
A
Department of Social and Welfare Studies, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden. anna.milberg@isv.liu.se
Appelquist
Gudrun
G
Hagelin
Ewa
E
Jakobsson
Maria
M
Olsson
Eva-Carin
EC
Olsson
Maria
M
Friedrichsen
Maria
M
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001601:Bereavement; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult