Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Palliative Medicine
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
0269216308098798v1
23/2/141    most recent
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Benkel, I
Right arrow Articles by Molander, U
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Benkel, I
Right arrow Articles by Molander, U
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
Medline Plus Health Information
*Bereavement
*Family Issues
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

research-article

Family and friends provide most social support for the bereaved

I Benkel

Palliative Care Unit, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg; Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg inger.benkel{at}vgregion.se

H Wijk

Sahlgrenska Academy, Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg

U Molander

Department of Geriatric Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg; Palliative Care Unit, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg

Social support is important in the bereavement period. In this study, the respondents were family members and friends to a patient who had died at a palliative care unit. The aim was to explore wishes and needs for, access to and effects of social support in the bereaved. We found that the grieving person’s wishes for social support from their network and the network also provided most social support. The network consisted of the close family, the origin family, relatives and friend. Support from the professional staff was required when the network was dysfunctional or when the grieving person did not want to burden members of his/her own network. The need for social support from professional staff was most needed close to the death and some time after.

Key Words: bereavement • family • grief • social support

This version was published on March 1, 2009

Palliative Medicine, Vol. 23, No. 2, 141-149 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0269216308098798
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?