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“You either need help…you feel you don't need help…or you don't feel worthy of asking for it:” Receptivity to bereavement support

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2018

Pippa Blackburn Open the ORCID record for Pippa Blackburn [Opens in a new window]  and
Caroline Bulsara
Pippa Blackburn*
Affiliation:
Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration, Australian Health Services Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Innovation Campus, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
Caroline Bulsara
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Midwifery The University of Notre Dame Australia Fremantle, Western Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Pippa Blackburn, Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC), Australian Health Services Research Institute (AHSRI); University of Wollongong, Innovation Campus, Building 234 (iC Enterprise 1), NSW, 2522. E-mail: pippa.blackburn@gmail.com
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Abstract

Objective

Although the needs of the bereaved have been identified widely in the literature, how these needs translate into meaningful, appropriate, and client-centered programs needs further exploration. The application of receptivity to support is a critical factor in participation by the bereaved in palliative care bereavement programs. Receptivity is a complex multifactorial phenomenon influenced by internal and external factors that ultimately influences engagement in psychosocial support in bereavement. This study explored factors that influence receptivity to bereavement support from palliative care services in rural, regional, and remote Western Australia.

Method

The study comprised a qualitative descriptive research design using semistructured interviews with 24 bereaved individuals, nine palliative care health professionals, and four Aboriginal Health Professionals. Participants were recruited via palliative care services in country Western Australia. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed.

Result

Findings revealed that a range of individual, social, and geographical factors influence receptivity to bereavement support and can impact on utilization of bereavement support services.

Significance of results

Receptivity provides a frame of reference to enhance understanding of factors influencing engagement in psychosocial support in bereavement. Receptivity promotes a shift of service provider perspectives of effective supportive care to consumer-centric reasons for engagement.

Keywords

Receptivitybereavementpalliative carerural
Type
Original Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , April 2019 , pp. 172 - 185
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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