Sourcebook : 6.7 Offer Bereavement Counseling and Services in All Settings : 6.7.1 Case Study - Coney Island Hospital: Bereavement Services in an Acute Care Facility

Coney Island Hospital, a 434-bed acute care facility, serves a community of 750,000 and has the largest proportion of elderly among the hospitals in Brooklyn, NY. Many patients who die in the hospital arrive there as the result of some crisis, not always at the end of a chronic illness. The group planned ways to create bereavement services tailored to their population, aiming to support the grieving process of families in need. Among the many changes tested were:

• Open (to all interested participants) and closed (ongoing, with constant membership) bereavement groups
• Mobile team to visit families
• Follow-up calls to families
• Individual counseling, on site or by referrals
• Staff training on assessing bereavement and intervening appropriately
• Baseline established for future studies to match individuals with the appropriate level, intensity, and type of service

The interventions were successful. Of the 50 families initially assessed, 40 remained in the study. Of these:

• 6 attended bereavement groups.
• 7 received visits from the mobile unit; 6 received counseling while on the hospital's medical units.
• 10 were referred for mental health therapy.
• 15 reported that a follow-up call and card were all that was needed, while 2 refused the phone call and services.

Following the bereavement intervention, families reported feeling that they had some control over their grief. All staff who participated in the bereavement counseling reported that it helped them to understand better the grief process and to incorporate their awareness into their practice.

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This online version of the book Improving Care for the End of Life: A Sourcebook for Health Care Managers and Clinicians is provided with permission of Americans for Better Care of the Dying [ www.abcd-caring.org ] and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For further information on quality improvement in end-of-life care visit The Palliative Care Policy Center [ www.medicaring.org ].