Bereavement Support for Spouses: An Evaluation of a 6-Session Group Program

Within oncology, bereavement outreach to families varies greatly following the death of a patient, depending upon the institution and its resources, the discipline of the provider, and the types of bereavement support offered. Bereavement support groups are commonplace, though little attention has been paid to understanding the impact on family members and what aspects of a group they find beneficial.

This study sought feedback from participants about the support group curriculum used at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) with recently bereaved spouses and partners.

Adopting a quality improvement framework, bereaved spouses who participated in a 6-session structured CBT-based bereavement support group between April 2020 and December 2022 were invited to complete an evaluation of the group program. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all groups were offered virtually.

In total, 138 spouses participated in one of 18, 6-session support groups at DFCI with 86 (62.32%) completing the evaluation. 67.44% were female and 74.42% were aged between 60 and 79 years. The participants evaluated the program highly, reporting that they felt less isolated in their grief (4.26/5 on a 5-point Likert Scale); many of their concerns were similar to others (4.42/5); and the session discussion topics were relevant to their experience (4.40/5). 81.40% of participants said that they either liked or strongly liked the virtual format and if given a choice, 56.47% expressed a preference for a hybrid delivery model.

The CBT-based bereavement support group curriculum was highly evaluated with a hybrid model endorsed as the preferred method for future groups.