Bereavement Management - Description, Assessment and Care

• Sponsor: University of Aarhus (Other)
• Overall Status: Completed
• CT.gov ID: NCT01292512
• Collaborator: Dæhnfeldt Foundation (Other), TrygFonden, Denmark (Industry), Danish Cancer Society (Other)
• Enrollment: 402
• Location: 1
• Arms: 2
• Duration (Months): 31
• Patients Per Site Per Month: 13

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

This study aims to develop a risk assessment tool to identify bereaved in risk of complicated grief reactions and to implement a bereavement management programme in primary health care based on the Dual Process Model of coping with bereavement. Furthermore to enhance bereavement care in general practice and to enhance patients' self-management in bereavement care.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Bereavement; Grief	Other: Prognostic screening for complicated grief	N/A

Detailed Description

In Denmark alone there are approximately 55.000 deaths annually which leave approximately 200.000 bereaved close relatives. International studies show that 10-15% of bereaved persons develop complications following the death of a close relative. If those studies hold true, approximately 20 - 30.000 individuals annually will develop complications as a result of suffering a loss, and there is hardly any knowledge of how bereavement is treated or even legitimized in primary care and referred on to specialized (psychological or psychiatric) care. The field of bereavement is in need of studies that validate the theoretical underpinnings of the research area, enhanced assessment of predictive risk factors and updated intervention methods: in short a scientifically valid management programme.

Study Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Actual Enrollment: 402 participants
• Allocation: Randomized
• Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)
• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Official Title: Bereavement Management. Description, Assessment and Care. A Randomized Controlled Study.
• Study Start Date: Jun 1, 2009
• Actual Primary Completion Date: Jan 1, 2012
• Actual Study Completion Date: Jan 1, 2012

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Intervention group A) Professional level. B) Patient level. Intervention Professional level: General Practitioners (GP) receive updated information on bereavement related symptoms, how to identify complicated grief, and the Dual Process Model (DPM) of coping. GPs receive suggestions on how to provide psycho-educational support for the patient. GPs are informed about the results of the initial assessment of their patient prognostic screening for complicated grief. Patient level: Patients receive updated information on bereavement related symptoms, the DPM of coping and suggestions on when to seek professional help. Patients are informed of the results of their initial assessment of their prognostic grief screening. Patients are encouraged to contact their GP if they worry about handling their bereavement reaction.	Other: Prognostic screening for complicated grief; Patients in the intervention group are prognostically screened for development of complicated grief to identify those in need of help.
Other: Control group Treatment as usual (in the Danish health care system).	Other: Prognostic screening for complicated grief; Patients in the intervention group are prognostically screened for development of complicated grief to identify those in need of help.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

1. Effect of the intervention measured by an increase in the diagnosis of complicated grief. [20 months]

   GPs receive updated information on bereavement related symptoms, how to identify complicated grief, and the Dual Process Model of coping.

Secondary Outcome Measures

1. Effect of the intervention measured by register-based data. [20 months]

   Effect of the intervention measured by register-based data on frequency in contact with GP, referrals to psychological/psychiatric counselling, medicine consumption and use of emergency services.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 Years and Older
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Inclusion Criteria:

• Newly bereaved from one of the inclusion facilities.

• 18 years or older.

• Danish citizen.

• Able to understand and speak Danish.

• Informed consent.

• Mentally able to cooperate

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with known substance abuse.

• Patients with recently (within 5 years) diagnosed psychopathological disorders that trigger psychotic episodes.

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	Research Unit for General Practice	Aarhus		Denmark	8000

Sponsors and Collaborators

• University of Aarhus
• Dæhnfeldt Foundation
• TrygFonden, Denmark
• Danish Cancer Society

Investigators

• Study Chair: Frede Olesen, Professor, Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus University, Denmark

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.

• Responsible Party: University of Aarhus
• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01292512
• Other Study ID Numbers: Bereavement Management.
• First Posted: Feb 9, 2011
• Last Update Posted: Mar 27, 2020
• Last Verified: Mar 1, 2012

• Keywords provided by University of Aarhus: Bereavement management; Complicated grief

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Mar 27, 2020