The Co-Grief team, belonging to the CTS-436 research group (Psychosocial and Transcultural Aspects of Health and Illness) of the CIMCYC (University of Granada), has published the article “Grief Responses During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study in Spain” in the journal Heliyon, in collaboration with the University of Alicante (UA).
This study collects the experiences of those who lost a loved one during the pandemic and analyzes how various factors associated with this period influenced their grief processes. Its main objective was to get close to these experiences to understand them in depth and examine the stages of the process that were most affected.
During the illness phase, circumstances such as the saturation of the health system or the protocols of the nursing homes sometimes generated doubts in the bereaved as to whether their relative had been cared for as he/she would have been otherwise.
In addition, measures to avoid contagion meant that some people could not say goodbye to their loved ones before death or celebrate the funeral rites customary in our society. All these factors have been a problem for many people when it comes to assimilating death.
Another obstacle generated was social disappointment when observing how other people did not respect the measures or did not know how to react adequately to the grief they were experiencing. Finally, the pandemic made it challenging to return to routine and to implement some activities that would allow the bereaved to “distract” themselves from their loss.
During bereavement, emotional responses such as intense shock, anger at the circumstances of the death, and fear of losing other people appeared. Significant interference in receiving support or accompanying other mourners has led to loneliness in many of these people. However, we found that some could also adapt to new circumstances, for example, by communicating through social networks, generating online support groups, or performing funeral rites that were different from the usual ones.
In conclusion, the study underscores the importance of considering the pandemic context when dealing with bereavement and the need to adapt hospital and social protocols to minimize the impact of future crises. It also provides a message of hope in how we can adapt our coping strategies, even in adverse circumstances.
Reference
Redondo-Armenteros, A., Pérez-Marfil, M. N., Fernández-Alcántara, M., García-Caro, M. P., Cruz-Quintana, F., & Cabañero-Martínez, M. J. (2024). Grief responses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study in Spain. Heliyon, 10(22), e40216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40216