Post-Mortem Grief Care for Family Caregivers After Home-Based End-of-Life Care: A Scoping Review

Background/Objectives: Evidence on postmortem grief care for family caregivers after home-based end-of-life care is limited. This scoping review aimed to map the content and effects of such interventions for adult family caregivers after home deaths. Methods: Following the Joanna Briggs Institute and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines, we searched PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Ichushi-Web from database inception to 31 March 2024. We included English- or Japanese-language intervention studies performed in home and community settings. "Early" grief care was defined as (i) support initiated within 6 months after the death of a loved one and (ii) interventions initiated during caregiving that assessed bereavement outcomes within 6 months after the death of a loved one. Data were charted and descriptively summarized. Results: From 4766 records, six studies were selected for the review (five randomized controlled trials and one ongoing registry trial). Interventions varied from dyadic psychological sessions integrated into specialist palliative home care (DOMUS) to brief psychoeducation, structured family-physician consultations, general-practice bereavement management with screening and stepped care, remote monitoring with nurse coaching during home hospice care, with bereavement outcomes assessed at 6 months (SCH), and an online self-help program for widowed older adults. The effects were mixed. DOMUS showed a small but significant reduction in caregiver anxiety; SCH reduced caregiver burden during caregiving and improved bereavement adjustment at 6 months. Other interventions did not demonstrate a clear advantage in outcomes over usual care. Conclusions: Early grief care after home-based end-of-life care is heterogeneous. Need-responsive multicomponent models embedded in existing home and community care pathways warrant further theory-informed evaluation.