Bereavement: a review for oncology health professionals

Caring and responsibility do not end with the death of a patient with cancer. For health professionals, it marks a time when the focus of such care and responsibility shifts to the survivors. Increased knowledge and awareness of the process of normal versus abnormal bereavement will undoubtedly facilitate heightened sensitivity to the needs of this population. While it is unrealistic to expect clinicians to engage in long-term follow-up in all such cases, adequate medical care would demand some understanding of the normal bereavement process and the ability to differentiate this from a pathological variant, the ability to identify individuals at high risk for a pathological course, and finally, familiarity with community resources capable of addressing ongoing or unmet needs.