5.3 Inform Health Policy and Practice
e findings are beneficial for public health officials, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public as they highlight gaps in the healthcare system that need more attention.
e report offers important insights into the lived experiences of dying, death, and bereavement during COVID-19, and should be used to inform and facilitate further discussion and planning for future public health crises or emergencies. e findings should be used to inform any future review into the COVID-19 pandemic response in Ireland. Implementing services such as the Bereavement Support Line (an IHF service run in partnership with the HSE) and the IHF COVID-19 Care & Inform Hub played an important role early in the pandemic in supporting people through their grief and to navigate challenging end-of-life care experiences. Consideration should be given to how these types of resources and services can be upscaled quickly during future public health emergencies.
Recommendation 8 e findings from this report must be used to inform future public health responses to similar situations as well as the proposed inquiry into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recommendation 9 In the event of any future public health emergency or pandemic, IHF would welcome early and continuous engagement with public health officials regarding the dying, death and bereavement experience.
5.4 Invest in Future Research
ere is consensus in the literature that further research is warranted to explore the longer-term impacts of people’s experiences during the pandemic. is should include large population-based samples, as well as studies that focus on more specialised groups (e.g., migrant healthcare staff, marginalised communities, older adults, children, people who were bereaved during COVID-19). e limitations noted in this report (see Discussion Section 4.6) should be seen as opportunities to build on this work. Recommendation 10 More studies to explore the impact on healthcare workers, and in particular subgroups like migrant staff, to help identify coping strategies and necessary supports required in the event of future global health crises.
Recommendation 11 Explore the different bereavement experiences, in particular people who were at the sub-threshold of PGD to further inform public health responses and practices.
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