Bereavement services means those services available to the surviving family members for a period of at least one-year after the death of the patient. These services shall include an assessment of the needs of the bereaved family, and the development of a plan of care that meets these needs, both prior to, and following the death of the patient.
Hospice care provides bereavement services as defined by hospice licensure standards. It offers a comprehensive bereavement program to families/significant others for a minimum of up to one year after the patient’s death. Periodic assessments are conducted, as appropriate, to determine the bereavement needs of family members or significant others. Services will be provided through professional staff, community-based agencies and volunteers.
Services Provided: Include a series of bereavement letters with accompanying grief literature and resource information to help family members cope with their loss. These letters are sent to survivors at regular intervals throughout the year on schedule basis. Other services provided may include the following:
Condolence or remembrance cards for specially noted dates.
Referral to individual. Couple, family counselling
Referral to group counselling
Volunteer contact
Community memorial services
Referral to retreat
Referral to professional counselor
PROCEDURES:
Bereavement services are furnished under the supervision of a qualified bereavement coordinator. Bereavement assessment is a part of the patient’s initial/comprehensive assessment. Assessments are conducted according to the state and federal regulations. The bereavement plan of care is developed after a bereavement assessment is completed by a social worker or counselor. The bereavement services in the plan of care will reflect the needs of the bereaved. The plan of care will identify the kind of bereavement services to be offered and the frequency of service delivery.
Upon the patient’s death, the social worker, Bereavement coordinator will make a condolence call/visit to the family/significant others.
A sympathy card signed by hospice team members will be sent to family members within 2 weeks of patient’s death.
All patient’s death will be conferenced by the hospice interdisciplinary team and a Bereavement Assessment, Interventions and Plan of Care form will be completed. If the risk level is deemed moderate to high and in-depth assessment has not been completed, one will be done as soon as possible.
Additional follow-up assessments may be done of any individual case based on the clinical findings and modifications made to the plan of care.
RECORDKEEPING
An on-going bereavement record will be kept tracking all patient deaths and bereavement activity. This record will include the date of death, start of care, medical record number, patient name, name of bereaved, and the dates of contacts made that are additional to any bereavement mailings sent to bereaved families.
All professional staff has been assigned bereavement cases will maintain a tickler file for each deceased patient to provide timely follow-up.
Assessment forms as well as other documentation regarding bereavement activity will be placed in the patient’s medical record chart.
Recommendations on improvement on promotional services at hospice care? (United States, San Diego, California)
My ideas – Memorial for staff, connecting with the bereavement support group and Updating the resources, Social media to connect with the San Diego county.