Unexplored Costs of Bereavement Grief in Japan: Patterns of Increased Use of Medical, Pharmaceutical, and Financial Services

The European Grief Conference, Copenhagen 2022: An effort to unite the field of bereavement care in Europe

Bereavement care in Europe varies in quality and availability. Through greater collaboration across Europe, there could potentially be an opportunity to improve care. This article discusses the inaugural European Grief Conference held in Denmark in 2022: "Bereavement and Grief in Europe - Emerging Perspectives & Collaborations". The conference was structured around a 4-tiered public health model of bereavement care needs. It included practice, research, policy, and educational perspectives. A total of 250 people from 27 different countries participated. To determine if the conference had appealed to a broad European audience of grief professionals and to assess how the conference was received by participants, we examined registration/submission data, the results of a one-word real-time feedback exercise, and the answers to an online satisfaction survey. The results indicated wide interest in greater information sharing and collaboration across Europe among bereavement care, research, and education professionals.

Honoring Grief Journeys Following the Death of a Loved One

ABSTRACT

Nurses, regardless of the healthcare setting, have numerous opportunities for interacting with those who are grieving. The purpose of this article is to help honor and support those who are on a grief journey following the death of a loved one. Caring for the grieving involves offering the ministry of presence, awareness of both established and individualized grief responses, planning interventions for loneliness and isolation, and navigating through special occasions. Praying and sharing Scripture and encouraging time alone in God's presence can be integral in helping the bereaved meet spiritual needs.

Changing Funerals and Their Effects on Bereavement Grief in Japan

Bereavement is an extremely personal feeling, but Japanese society tends to disapprove of displays of negative personal emotion or weakness. For ages, mourning rituals like funerals provided an exception where social permission was given to sharing grief and seeking support. However, the form and significance of Japanese funerals have changed rapidly over the past generation, and especially since the advent of COVID-19 restrictions on assembly and travel. This paper overviews the trajectory of changes and continuities in mourning rituals in Japan, looking at their psychological and social impacts. It goes on to summarize recent Japanese research showing that appropriate funerals are not merely of psychological and social benefit, but may have an important role in reducing or supporting grief that might otherwise require medical and social work intervention.

Evaluations of Funerals and Health Trajectories in the Second Year After Bereavement-The Ongoing Japan National Survey

Our nationwide postal survey analyzing 190 responses from Japanese bereaved who had responded a year earlier found that funeral dissatisfaction rose during the second year after the funeral. Controverting previous research advocating participation in funeral planning, elderly bereaved spouses forced to decide about and/or pay for the funeral showed elevated grief as much as 2 years later. While not reaching levels diagnosed as prolonged, traumatic, or complicated grief, nevertheless one out of three of our bereaved sample showed continuing daily symptoms of grief from 14 to 24 months after their bereavement, with continued or increasing use of tranquillizers or antidepressants. The medical and pharmaceutical costs incurred by mourners more than a year after bereavement warrant further research into what factors improve or exacerbate the health of grieving bereaved, not limited to a single year after the bereavement.