The effect of suppressing funeral rituals during the COVID-19 pandemic on bereaved families.
Érika Arantes de Oliveira Cardoso, Breno César de Almeida da Silva, Jorge Henrique Dos Santos and 3 others
PMID 32901773WHAT IT FOUND
Bereaved families described sudden death and restricted funeral rituals as leaving grief unresolved.
They valued clear, empathic communication from health staff. Use this to guide family support, not as evidence a practice improves outcomes.
Key findings
01Bereaved family members described suffering when they could not support the patient during the illness.
02Families said restricted funerals and sealed coffins left them feeling a cycle was opened but not closed.
03Families reported that trust in health staff, sharing information, and empathy were important for coping.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study analysed published online reports, not interviews, so researchers could not ask families about context, feelings or outcomes. The reports came from selected Brazilian public websites and news, so they may not represent all bereaved families. There was no control group, no measured outcome and no tested intervention, so the paper cannot show that funeral restrictions caused complicated grief or that communication prevented it. The sample was 23 online testimonies, which is small for broad practice changes.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that suppressing funeral rituals causes complicated grief or that better communication prevents it. These are public online family reports, not a tested intervention.