Study | Design | Participants | Analysis | Key findings | Gough's weight of evidence |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harris23 (1998) | Postal questionnaire to GPs | 353 GPs from random sample of practices in South Thames region of UK | Quantitative | 65% of practice deaths were discussed in the practice, most often informaly; 40% of practices had a policy for identifying newly bereaved relatives; 56% of practices kept a death register; 39% of practices offered routine contact, usually a home visit; 62% referred patients to organisations such as CRUSE when appropriate | High |
Birtwistle21 (2002) | Postal questionnaire to DNs | 323 DNs from south UK | Quantitative and qualitative | 74% reported their bereavement care was informed by personal experience of loss; 82% thought they should contact the person who was bereaved through visits, letters, or phone cals; 83% thought that DNs had an important role in bereavement care; 85% thought they should visit those who were bereaved if they had cared for the deceased; 10% thought bereavement visits to people who were newly bereaved were intrusive; 90% reported that someone from the practice usually attended the funeral | High |
Blyth31 (1990) | GP questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with relatives | 5 GPs from one practice and 34 relatives of patients | Quantitative and qualitative | GPs reported al families in the sample to have been visited after the death. Seven of 34 relatives did not want to speak to the GP about their relative's death; 2 of 34 relatives felt they could not have approached their GP after bereavement | High |
Brown30 (1995) | Retrospective GP practice case records review | Records of 45 bereaved relatives over 12 months in one practice | Quantitative | 37 of 45 people who were bereaved were contacted by GP or nurse following a patient's death | High |
Lemkau25 (2000) | Postal questionnaire to US family physicians | 400 family physicians in USA | Quantitative | Practitioners strongly believed the identification and treatment of grieving patients to be an important part of their clinical responsibility; 83% evaluated most grieving patients themselves; 60% discussed spiritual concerns with the patient; 38% referred patients to the clergy | High |
Cartwright26 (1982) | GP postal questionnaire and interviews with carers of deceased | 180 GPs and 206 older widowed people | Quantitative | 41 % of GPs thought they should make a home visit to older people who were bereaved; 36% thought it depended on the circumstances; 76% of those who were bereaved saw their GP during the 5–7 months after spousal death; 60% of patients who saw their GP before the funeral were given a prescription | Medium |
Daniels32 (1994) | Postal questionnaire and interview of bereaved relatives | 18 bereaved relatives in one GP practice. | Quantitative and qualitative | Five of 18 had no GP contact in bereavement; 16 felt some acknowledgement from their GP would have helped – 10 by a home visit, five by a phone call and one by a letter | Medium |
Field27 (1998) | Semi-structured GP interviews | 25 GPs | Qualitative | Most GPs had well-established procedures for caring for bereaved relatives | Medium |
Lloyd-Wiliams33 (1995) | Structured interview schedule | 12 bereaved patients referred to a psychiatric service for bereavement counseling | Quantitative | Of 12 patients, eight had seen a GP twice and three once before referral; only one had been offered bereavement counselling in the practice; eight were referred to CRUSE; and two had ‘abnormal’ bereavement reactions needing specialist help | Medium |
Peters24 (1994) | Postal questionnaire | 67 GPs of patients died in Royal London Hospital ICU | Quantitative | 82% of GPs offered bereavement care: 63% at GP surgery, 14% in home visits, 11 % offered specialist help within the practice (counselors, psychologists, etc); bereavement care was ranked as low priority for time | Medium |
Saunderson22 (1999) | Questionnaire and interview | 25 London GPs | Quantitative and qualitative | 19 reported their personal experience informed their practice of bereavement care; 17 felt they had a responsibility to make contact with those who were bereaved | Medium |
Wiles28 (2002) | Semi-structured GP interviews | 29 individual/group interviews with 50 GPs in south UK | Quantitative and qualitative | All relied on patients consulting for help with bereavement; GPs use time since bereavement to classify the reaction as normal or not, and refer to counsellors in cases of untimely death, death of a child and social isolation | Medium |
Lyttle29 (2001) | Interviews with bereaved patients and community nurses | 10 bereaved people, 20 community nurses | Qualitative | DNs reported continuity of care and organised care was important for those who were bereaved, although time pressures limited their contribution. Those who were bereaved welcomed more than a one-off DN bereavement visit | Medium |
DN = district nurse.