3.9.2. Opportunity to Say Goodbye
When describing the impact of COVID-19, participants expressed how the implementation of capped visiting numbers in hospital and nursing home settings meant some participants were unable to say goodbye to their loved ones and as a result, some patients died alone: “My brother-in-law died suddenly and unexpectedly from a late diagnosis of cancer. His wife and his children could not sit with him or comfort him but could only look through the glass. Only in his last minutes when he was already in a coma were they allowed at his bedside. ey never really got to say goodbye, even worse, they never got to comfort him, tell him they loved him, while he could still hear them. None of us got to say goodbye. ere has to be a better way.” 3.10 Funerals and Mourning Rituals Over 20% of participants were unable to attend the funeral of their loved one (N=262, 23.5%) and almost 70% of participants (N=765, 68.6%) reported that family and friends were excluded from funerals due to COVID-19 guidance. Almost half of participants stated they were unable to have the funeral or ritual they would have liked for their loved one (N=531, 47.5%). However, over half of the participants (N=608, 54.6%) felt that a funeral remained a source of comfort for them in their grieving. Half of participants stated that people in their community had found other ways to honour the person who had died (N=601, 53.6%) and importantly a similar number (N=608, 54.6%) stated that even with public health measures, some aspects of the funeral were a comfort to them (see Table 9 in Appendices).
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