Grief and Bereavement in the Adult Palliative Care Setting

127 Pages·2013·0.5 MB·English

by  E. Alessandra Strada

O A P C L
OXFORD AMERICAN PALLIATIVE CARE LIBRARY
Grief and Bereavement
in the Adult Palliative
Care Setting
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O A P C L
OXFORD AMERICAN PALLIATIVE CARE LIBRARY
Grief and Bereavement
in the Adult Palliative
Care Setting
E. Alessandra Strada, PhD, FT, MSCP
Adjunct Professor
The California Institute of Integral Studies
Faculty, Post-doctoral Psychopharmacology
Alliant University
San Francisco, California
Executive Series Editor
Russell K. Portenoy, MD
Chairman of the Department of Pain Medicine & Palliative Care
Beth Israel Medical Center
New York, NY
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Strada, E. Alessandra.
Grief and bereavement in the adult palliative care setting / E. Alessandra Strada.
p. ; cm. — (Oxford American palliative care library)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–976892–9 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–19–990914–8 (alk. paper)
I. Title. II. Series: Oxford American palliative care library.
[DNLM: 1. Bereavement. 2. Palliative Care—psychology. 3. Stress,
Psychological. BF 575.G7]
BF575.G7S764 2013
155.9′37—dc23
2013006037
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Section I: Defi nitions and Models
1 Introduction 3
2 Models of Grief and Relevance to the Palliative
Care Setting 15
3 Cultural, Spiritual, and Developmental Aspects of
Grief Reactions 27
4 Normal Grief, Anticipatory Grief, and Complicated Grief 41
Section II: Clinical and Professional
Considerations
5 Assessment Considerations 59
6 Psychosocial and Psychological Interventions for
Grief Reactions 77
7 Psychopharmacology for Grief Reactions 89
8 Grief-Related Distress in Palliative Care Teams 103
Index 115
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Acknowledgments
I owe my greatest debt of gratitude to all the palliative care patients and their
families with whom I have worked over the years. I have felt and continue to
feel humbled and honored to be allowed into their intimate experience of grief
and bereavement. It is to all of them that this book is dedicated.
I have been fortunate to have many wonderful mentors and colleagues who
have been supportive, encouraging, and inspiring. I am especially grateful to Dr.
Russell Portenoy, my former chairman, and all my former colleagues in the
department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center in
New York. I have had the privilege to work with an extraordinary group of palli-
ative care clinicians, whose commitment to this work has been a great source of
inspiration. I would also like to thank my colleagues and friends at the California
Institute of Integral Studies, in San Francisco and Alliant University, also in San
Francisco. I am particularly grateful to all the students who have attended my
class on the psychology of death and dying over the years, for p articipating with
courage and authenticity in the exploration of their own experience of grief and vii
bereavement.
I would like to thank everyone at Oxford for the continued support. I am
most grateful to Andrea Seils, who has been a delight to work with.
My endless gratitude goes to my mother and my grandmother for their
love and strength, and for teaching me the meaning of hope, resilience, and
courage.
Most importantly, I thank my husband Tony. His love and support, his passion
for life and wonderful sense of humor makes it all possible.
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Section I
Defi nitions and Models