Connecting Families to Bereavement Resources: A Hospital-Based, Bereavement Follow-Up Pilot During First-Wave COVID-19.

Abstract

Background: Hospitals often lack bereavement programs. Bereaved families often navigate grief support on their own. This problem was complicated by the early COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: Describe a cost neutral pilot to support next of kin (NOK) of deceased patients from our communicable disease response unit (CDRU) and palliative care unit (PCU). Design: Ad hoc pilot leveraging chaplains and a social worker (SW) to call NOK for grief support using a templated guide, referring interested NOK to bereavement support agencies. Setting/Subjects: NOK of patients who died in the CDRU and PCU at a metropolitan, quaternary care, hospital over five months. Results: One hundred eighty-six patients died. Eighty-one NOK were called, 51 calls were considered complete. Fourteen NOK accepted a referral for bereavement support. Conclusions: This cost neutral pilot successfully connected 81 NOK with either a pilot chaplain or SW for bereavement support. Fourteen NOK accepted referral for a community bereavement resource.