MOURNING FAMILIES: The process of working out of grief as a result of death from COVID-19

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate how families who lost a family member as a result of COVID-19 have structured themselves in the resilient process of mourning. This is a qualitative research, which used the Episodic Interview technique as a research instrument. Five family members of patients who died from COVID-19 participated in the study, invited by recommendation from the Social Assistance Reference Center and Basic Family Health Units in the municipality; with the study approved by CEP/FPM, under opinion number 5,977,311. Among the reports from the sample of interviewees, it was unanimous among those interviewed that religion was an element that could serve as a source of emotional support in the face of loss. It was observed that all these losses occurred in public hospitals in the city of Patos de Minas, and psychotropic medications were used as a result of grief. Finally, limitations of the study included reluctance to participate due to the painful nature of the subject and a lack of understanding about the academic research process, as the initially proposed sample was larger than those who actually participated in the research. In view of this study, new reflective research is suggested on the elaboration of grief in pandemic consequences and methods for professional psychologists to clinically help bereaved patients.