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Attitudes of palliative care clinical staff toward prolonged grief disorder diagnosis and grief interventions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 July 2017

Esther L. Davis ,
Frank P. Deane ,
Gregory D. Barclay ,
Joan Bourne  and
Vivienne Connolly
Esther L. Davis*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Illawarra Institute for Mental Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Frank P. Deane
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Illawarra Institute for Mental Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Gregory D. Barclay
Affiliation:
Palliative Care Services, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia Graduate School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Joan Bourne
Affiliation:
Palliative Care Services, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Vivienne Connolly
Affiliation:
Palliative Care Services, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Esther Davis, Illawarra Institute for Mental Health, B22, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, NSW 2522, Australia. E-mail: eld458@uowmail.edu.au.
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Abstract

Objective:

The provision of psychological support to caregivers is an important part of the role of the clinical staff working in palliative care. Staff knowledge and attitudes may determine their openness to referring caregivers to a psychological intervention. We recently developed a self-help intervention for grief and psychological distress among caregivers and were interested in exploring the extent to which staff knowledge and attitudes might affect future implementation. The aims of our study were to: (1) examine the acceptability of self-help psychological intervention for caregivers among palliative care clinical staff; (2) examine potential attitudinal barriers toward prolonged grief disorder (PGD) as a diagnosis and interventions for grief; and (3) bolster staff confidence in skills and knowledge in identifying and managing caregiver psychological distress.

Method:

An anonymous survey was distributed among clinical staff at two inpatient units and two community health services that assessed the acceptability of self-help interventions for caregivers, attitudes about PGD diagnosis and grief intervention, and staff confidence in skills and knowledge in assessing caregiver psychological distress.

Results:

Overall, clinical staff were positively oriented toward self-help for caregivers and intervention for grief. They were also basically confident in their skills and knowledge. While it was positive PGD attitudes that were associated with acceptability of self-help for caregivers, it was both positive and negative PGD attitudes that were associated more specifically with a willingness to refer caregivers to such an intervention.

Significance of results:

Our findings are useful in highlighting the issues to be considered in the implementation of a self-help intervention within the healthcare service. Clinical staff seemed positively oriented toward engaging with a psychological intervention for caregivers and likely to act as key allies in implementation.

Keywords

Palliative careStaffAttitudesProlonged grief disorderCarerCaregiver
Type
Original Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 16 , Special Issue 4: Topics in Bereavement , August 2018 , pp. 388 - 395
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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