Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2022

Developing a person-centred bereavement care service for health professionals working with diverse communities (#319)

Nicci Bartley 1 , Laura Kirsten 2 , Cindy Wilson 2 , Betsy Sajish 2 , Claire Cooper 1 , Joanne Shaw 1
  1. Psycho-Oncology Cooperative Group, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. Nepean Cancer and Wellness Centre, Nepean Hospital, Kingswood, NSW, Australia

Aims:

Evidence-based bereavement care is not routinely provided or delivered by trained staff in Australian hospitals. Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District (NBMLHD) is responsible for providing health care to ~350,000 residents, including Indigenous, culturally and linguistically diverse and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. NBMLHD requires an evidence-based bereavement model of care that identifies all aspects of bereavement processes and incorporates recommendations for their diverse communities. The aim of this research is to develop a bereavement clinical pathway that identifies all aspects of bereavement processes: screening, education, training, follow-up and care provision.

Methods:

This systematic approach to the development of the bereavement clinical pathway will involve:

  1. Systematic review of the literature to identify international frameworks and implementation factors of relevance to the Australian context; and
  2. Qualitative interviews with key stakeholders who provide bereavement support to explore current routine practice, gaps in services and resources, and identify barriers and facilitators to implementing a bereavement clinical pathway.

Results:

We will present the findings of the systematic review and qualitative analysis, as well as describe the proposed NBMLHD bereavement clinical pathway.

Conclusions:

The bereavement clinical pathway developed from this research will be implemented into practice within NBMLHD and future research will involve an evaluation of the model to determine key implementation outcomes for feasibility, acceptability, and adherence. Further, the results of this research will inform the development of a brief education resource to build capacity for health professionals and volunteers that covers identified knowledge gaps.