Developing and Implementing Peer-Led Intervention to Support Staff in Long-Term Care Homes Manage Grief

Front-line staff in long-term care (LTC) homes often form strong emotional bonds with residents. When residents die, staffs’ grief often goes unattended, and may result in disenfranchised grief. The aim of this article is to develop, implement, and assess the benefits of a peer-led debriefing interv...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jo-Ann Vis, Kimberley Ramsbottom, Jill Marcella, Jessica McAnulty, Mary Lou Kelley, Katherine Kortes-Miller, Kristen Jones-Bonofiglio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2016-08-01
Series:SAGE Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016665888
Description
Summary:Front-line staff in long-term care (LTC) homes often form strong emotional bonds with residents. When residents die, staffs’ grief often goes unattended, and may result in disenfranchised grief. The aim of this article is to develop, implement, and assess the benefits of a peer-led debriefing intervention to help staff manage their grief and provide LTC homes an organizational approach to support them. This research was nested within a 5-year participatory action research to develop and implement palliative care programs within four LTC homes in Canada. Data specific to this debriefing intervention included questionnaires from six peer debriefers, field observations of six debriefings, and qualitative interviews with 23 staff participants. An original peer-led debriefing intervention (INNPUT) for LTC home staff was developed and implemented. Data revealed that the intervention offered staff an opportunity to express grief in a safe context with others, an opportunity for closure and acknowledgment. The INNPUT intervention benefits staff and offers an innovative, sustainable, easy to use strategy for LTC homes.
ISSN:2158-2440