AHRQ: Interventions to Improve Care of Bereaved Persons

The Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) Program at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has completed an evidence review on Interventions to Improve Care of Bereaved Persons. The final report is available at the Effective Healthcare Web site.

Thank you for your feedback during the process of this review.

Key findings include:

• Only a small body of evidence has evaluated the effects of screening approaches. There was insufficient evidence for evidence statements regarding participant experience, validity and diagnostic accuracy of the screening tool or approach, or adverse events associated with the screening process.
• A small body of evidence has addressed the identification of bereaved people at risk or with grief disorder; and reports positive diagnostic accuracy of the Inventory of Complicated Grief. None of the identified studies used the reference standard of the newly established clinical diagnosis of grief disorder to determine diagnostic accuracy.
• A substantial body of evidence addressed psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, expert-facilitated support groups, peer support, self-help approaches, and other interventions (writing and music, comprehensive support, integrative medicine) but the strength of evidence was limited or insufficient for many interventions. No study evaluated spiritual counselling.
• We found moderate strength of evidence (SoE) for the beneficial effect of psychotherapy on severity of grief disorder, grief symptoms, and depression symptoms and expert-facilitated support groups on grief symptoms.
• There is a small body of evidence reporting on individuals diagnosed with grief disorders; with low SoE for the beneficial effect of psychotherapy on grief disorder and grief symptoms.

AHRQ is a government agency tasked with producing evidence to improve the quality of healthcare while working with partners to ensure that the evidence is understood and used. Below are links that provide more information on the EPC Program.