August 23, 2026

Bereavement, defined as the experience of losing a loved one to death and the subsequent process of adaptation, is a universal yet deeply personal experience. While many individuals successfully employ internal resources to cope with their loss, others may face a heightened risk of developing complicated grief reactions, such as major depression or suicidal ideation, particularly in cases of sudden or traumatic deaths. In Singapore, psychosocial grief and bereavement support is available through hospital and home care services. However, there remains a limited understanding of the diverse service models and approaches utilised by these organisations. Furthermore, there is no consensus on standardised outcome measures to evaluate effective bereavement care.

In ‘Re-Conceptualizing Bereavement Care Practices: Insights Gained from Service Providers’ (OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying, 2024), Associate Professor Lee Geok Ling (NUS Social Work), Chee Wai Yee (Singapore Hospice Council & Montfort Care), Assistant Professor Irene Teo (Duke-NUS), Dr Carolyn Ng (Portland Institute for Loss and Transition), and members of the Bereavement Workgroup aim to address these gaps. Their research aims to inform bereavement care practices and propose a comprehensive model of care as a framework for national adoption.

The researchers conducted ten focus group discussions involving 69 participants to examine the provision of bereavement care and support across different service providers. The participants included professionals from diverse healthcare settings like hospitals, hospices, and community agencies that regularly interact with bereaved individuals and families. They brought a wide range of professional experience in working with death and loss, spanning from 2.5 years to 30 years.

The focus group discussions revealed critical gaps in bereavement support services, with participants noting that care often ends abruptly after a patient’s death, leaving grieving families without adequate follow-up. Many highlighted the challenges posed by the bereaved population’s varying willingness to engage with support services, which complicates the delivery of effective care. Participants called for a culture of collaborative practice among service providers to improve communication and coordination of care. They also stressed the need to expand services to include support before death, making bereavement care more client-centred and enhancing community capacity for multi-tiered service delivery. Specific concerns included funeral directors’ lack of clarity on where to refer grieving families, as well as social workers’ observations of inconsistent follow-up procedures and insufficient collaboration among organisations.

In response to these challenges, the researchers proposed a three-tiered model of bereavement support anchored in a public health approach. This model focuses on developing a national framework for bereavement care, increasing public grief literacy to foster self-care and mutual support, and promoting collaborative partnerships to ensure seamless care across services. To make this model effective for the entire population, the researchers emphasised the importance of integrating cultural and spiritual strategies alongside medical and psychosocial approaches. Such an inclusive framework would better address the diverse needs of bereaved individuals and communities, ensuring that support is both accessible and sensitive to cultural and emotional contexts.

Read the article here.

Photo: iStock/Itsanan Sampuntarat