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. 2024 Jun 6;19(6):e0304025.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304025. eCollection 2024.

Support needs of Australians bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey study

Serra E Ivynian  1 , Fiona Maccallum  2 , Sungwon Chang  1 , Lauren J Breen  3 , Jane L Phillips  1   4 , Meera Agar  1 , Annmarie Hosie  1   5   6 , Jennifer Tieman  7 , Michelle DiGiacomo  1 , Tim Luckett  1 , Jennifer Philip  8 , Ann Dadich  9 , Christopher Grossman  10 , Imelda Gilmore  1 , Janeane Harlum  11 , Irina Kinchin  12 , Nicholas Glasgow  13 , Elizabeth A Lobb  1   14
Affiliations

Support needs of Australians bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey study

Serra E Ivynian et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 disrupted access to bereavement support. The objective of this study was to identify the bereavement supports used by Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic, perceived helpfulness of supports used, prevalence and areas of unmet support need, and characteristics of those with unmet support needs.

Methods: A convenience sample of bereaved adults completed an online questionnaire (April 2021-April 2022) about their bereavement experiences including support use and perceived helpfulness, unmet support needs and mental health. Multiple logistic regression was conducted to determine sociodemographic correlates of unmet needs. Open-ended responses were examined using content analysis to determine key themes.

Results: 1,878 bereaved Australians completed the questionnaire. Participants were mostly women (94.9%) living in major cities (68%) and reported the death of a parent (45%), with an average age of 55.1 years (SD = 12.2). The five most used supports were family and friends, self-help resources, general practitioners, psychologists, and internet/online community groups. Notably, each was nominated as most helpful and most unhelpful by participants. Two-thirds (66%) reported specific unmet support needs. Those with unmet needs scored lower on mental health measures. Correlates of unmet needs included being of younger age, being a spouse or parent to the deceased; reporting more impacts from public health measures, and not reporting family and friends as supports. The most frequent unmet need was for social support after the death and during lockdown.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates the complexity of bereavement support needs during a pandemic. Specialised grief therapy needs to be more readily available to the minority of grievers who would benefit from it. A clear recommendation for a bereavement support action plan is to bolster the ability of social networks to provide support in times of loss. The fostering of social support in the wake of bereavement is a major gap that needs to be addressed in practice, policy, and research.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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Supplementary concepts

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) – Coronavirus Research Response – 2020 COVID-19 Mental Health Research Grant Opportunity- MRF2005576. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.