Dealing with grief related to loss by death and chronic pain: Suggestions for practice. Part 2

Elin Dysvik¹, Bodil Furnes²

¹Department of Health Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, ²Department of Mathematics and Natural Science, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway

Objective: This paper, the second of two, represents a theoretical framework for interventions related to loss by death of someone close, or chronic pain. This work is based on our previous understanding where grief is considered an integrated experience which involves movements on several continua.

Methods: We have performed a comparison between two interventions dealing with grief and chronic pain using different designs. Interrelated experiences and processes were identified.

Results: Life phenomena like grief and loss caused by death and chronic pain, seem to have many qualities in common and may overlap each other. A common core containing emptiness, vulnerability and exhaustion is identified.

Discussion: Despite advances in research and thinking in recent years, several issues related to grief caused by death or chronic pain remain a challenge in clinical settings and research. When preparing interventions, we must pay attention to the relearning process, the common core and the interplay between these bodily expressions.

Conclusion: We believe there is a value in future research and practice to consider losses caused by death and chronic pain, together as well as separately. Our comprehensive approach indicates that understanding the processes involved in one sort of grief may help understand the processes involved in the other.

Keywords: nursing, program development, grief