Helping say goodbye: merging clinical scholarship with community service

Clinical scholarship is elusive but involves observation, comparison of what is and what might be, applicability and analysis of appropriate theory-based practice, and passion for the process. The article examines characteristics of clinical scholarship in a clinical practice with a community service mission: facilitation of a support group for parents experiencing perinatal loss. The conceptual framework for this practice arena, Swanson-Kauffman's caring concepts and Yalom's curative factors of group participation, is explored. Practical information about initiating and maintaining an environment of clinical scholarship in a support group practice is provided, with discussion of the appropriateness of support group involvement for this population.