ese findings can be explained by the increased focus on dying and death by the public during COVID-19. For example, some studies highlighted the salience of sudden deaths reported by the media and the dehumanising effects of death statistics. 4.2 Impact of COVID-19 on Grieving It was evident from the literature that altered funeral structures and mourning rituals had a major impact on experiences of grief during COVID-19. Participants in this survey struggled with the loss of rituals due to the limitations in the number of people attending funerals and the introduction of public health measures during the pandemic. is finding aligns with previous research that suggests a lack of mourning rituals and the inability to say goodbye to loved ones during the pandemic was traumatic and contributed to feelings of shock and anger among bereaved individuals. e survey further showed that funerals remained a source of comfort for participants in their grieving. Despite many participants finding ways to honour their loved one, they felt they had lost an opportunity to grieve without the chance to have the traditional aspects of a funeral. e literature review suggested that COVID-19 related bereavement was more severe than natural losses but similar to the bereavement experience from unnatural losses (e.g. suicide, accidents) that people face. For a small but significant proportion of the population, nearly 10%, their grief is described as Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD). It is characterised as grief that is extremely debilitating over a longer period and will require more specialised support. Findings of the Time to Reflect survey indicated that PGD was present amongst 14% of participants, which is higher than the numbers outside of pandemic situations but aligns with or is less than prior studies conducted on this topic during the pandemic. A recently published study in the UK reported that 34.6% of participants had PGD indications 13 months post-bereavement and 28.6% at 25 months post-bereavement. In this Irish data, while indications of PGD at 14% are lower than proportions reported elsewhere, the relatively large levels of sub-threshold PGD at 26.1% demonstrate that one in four bereaved people may need closer monitoring. A sub-threshold of PGD indicates that this group of people meet some but not all the PGD criteria and would suggest that they are at a higher risk of developing complicated grief without skilled therapeutic intervention.
5. Torrens-Burton, A., Goss, S., Sutton, E., Barawi, K., Longo, M., Seddon, K., Carduff, E., Farnell, D. J. J., Nelson, A., Byrne, A., Phillips, R., Selman, L. E., & Harrop, E. (2022). “It was brutal. It still is”: A qualitative analysis of the challenges of bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic reported in two national surveys. Palliative Care and Social Practice, 16, 26323524221092456. https://doi.org/10.1177/26323524221092456 6. Lundorff, M., Holmgren, H., Zachariae, R., Farver-Vestergaard, I., O’Connor, M., (2017). Prevalence of prolonged grief disorder in adult bereavement: A systematic review and meta-analysis, Journal of Affective Disorders, Volume 212, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.01.030. 7. Harrop, E., Medeiros Mirra, R., Goss, S., Longo, M., Byrne, A., Farnell, D. J. J., Seddon, K., Penny, A., Machin, L., Sivell, S., & Selman, L. E. (2023). Prolonged grief during and beyond the pandemic: factors associated with levels of grief in a four time-point longitudinal survey of people bereaved in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in public health, 11, 1215881. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1215881
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