Post-bereavement problematic grief in chronic physical illness
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A preliminary investigation of how ongoing, problematic grief related to bereavement may contribute to somatic and psychological distress in patients with chronic physical illness: a case study series.
IRAS ID
227933
Contact name
Mary Reid
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Head of Non-Commercial Research Service
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
Evidence is growing that chronic emotional dysfunction frequently complicates symptom management for individuals with chronic disorders and disease (e.g. Wright & Schutte, 2014; McWilliams, Goodwin & Cox, 2004). Thus, having difficulty identifying, accepting or deriving the meaning of one’s emotional experiences including grief, and recognising the needs/ tasks underlying them may be associated with increases of somatic symptoms. Even ‘normal’ / uncomplicated grief reactions are a risk factor for poor health episodes, and bereavement has been shown to influence key physiological functions, involving immune, endocrine, autonomic and cardiovascular systems (e.g. Goforth et al., 2009). Some evidence exists that longstanding grief responses are frequently present in cases of chronic illness (Dell’Osso et al., 2011), but this relationship, nor treatment directed at helping chronically ill individuals manage grief processes been investigated.
This study will involve case study series, where four patients referred to clinical health psychology at NHS Tayside (for treatment of psychological difficulties contributing to ongoing difficulties their management of chronic illness conditions) and who have a history of continuing, problematic grief related to bereavement (CPG), will provide data for case study analysis. Participants will include consenting patients completing assessment and treatment phases, who participate in decisions regarding their own treatment goals and interventions employed. Particular attention will be played on the role of ongoing grief in symptom generation and maintenance in each case, and the impacts of therapeutic griefwork, measured via psychometric analysis and discussion of intervention impacts, and both therapist and patient reviews. It is expected that examination of case conceptualisations, therapy processes and outcomes will contribute to understanding how uncompleted grief processing may affect patients’ experience of somatic symptoms as well as contribute to ongoing psychological distress, and how specialised interventions may help patients accept losses, manage grief-related emotions, and improve life engagement.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 1
REC reference
18/ES/0020
Date of REC Opinion
27 Mar 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion