Bereavement Support in an Acute Hospital: An Irish Model

Abstract

In the first Irish study to examine a hospital-based bereavement care program, 1 year's cohort of bereaved people was surveyed. A response rate of over 40% provided 339 completed questionnaires from bereaved next-of-kin. The findings suggest that a tiered pyramid model of bereavement care (the Beaumont model) may be functional in a number of ways. The outreach aspect of the service is successful in providing additional support and information through telephone and postal contact to people at a distance or with mobility difficulties. Those bereaved by sudden death are twice as likely to access the service as those for whom death was expected. These, and other findings, are discussed.

We acknowledge with gratitude the guidance and support offered by Orla Keegan of the Irish Hospice Foundation, Erna O'Connor, and Shane Butler of Trinity College Dublin and Dr. Regina Quillan of Beaumont Hospital. This article is dedicated to the memory of Siobhan O'Driscoll, an inspired and inspiring social work practitioner and teacher, who died in December 2007.