How a person’s death is communicated can have a significant impact on the grieving process for survivors.
How is the sudden and violent death announced to the relatives of the victims by the doctors in the hospitals? This particularly sensitive issue was the subject of the master’s thesis of psychiatry specialist Nikos Statharakos, elements of which he will present at “2nd Congress of Forensics – Psychiatry”, which starts today, at the “Electra Palace” hotel, in Thessaloniki.
As stated in his paper “The impact of death announcement on traumatic bereavement: Sudden and violent deaths in hospital settings’supervised by the associate professor of the Department of Medicine of the AUTH Fotios Hatzinikolaou, the way in which a person’s death is announced can have a significant impact on the grieving process of the survivors.
“Through my dissertation, I tried to provide a clearer picture and analyze through a literature review, the effect of the announcement of death on traumatic mourning and especially on its pathological manifestations, when in particular it concerns sudden and violent death in hospital structures”, says Mr. Statharakos to APE-MPE, clarifying that in Greece there is no uniform protocol for the announcement of death both to the survivors and to the announcers.
“For survivors, the announcement has a direct impact on the introduction to the grieving process and primary reactions. With regard to the announcers, there is a need for the use of protocols and training of doctors in the announcement of death for its more efficient processing. he says characteristically.
Traumatic deaths, says the diplomat, have at least two common characteristics: the violence with which they occurred and the unpredictability. These two aspects are, by definition, beyond the control of both the professionals involved in the death announcement process and the survivors, who are suddenly called upon to manage the emotional burden of losing a loved one. Although the protagonists of these situations experience their pain, each in their own personal way, they are connected through the process of annunciation.
“It is not possible, to a large extent, to predict the reactions to bereavement, but on the part of the doctors, a smooth introduction to mourning for the survivors can be facilitated, starting with the announcement of death. Especially in the cases of sudden and violent deaths, where they are risk factors for problematic adaptation to bereavement. Despite the wide variation in the degree of involvement and personal sensitivities, it is useful for whistleblowers to refer to a code of conduct or protocol that they can rely on to better deal with the difficult task of whistleblowing to convey the situation in a way that not to create additional confusion and to allow mourning and grieving through a path appropriate to the personal situation of the survivors.”
According to Mr. Statharakosthe literature demonstrates the necessity of training physicians in death announcement with 4 axes, which are preparation, announcement, management and support.
“Preparation includes for the physician knowledge of the medical history, determining the place for the announcement is important and should be private and quiet, the announcement should always be done with empathy and compassion and assuring that all possible resuscitation actions have been taken . Doctors must then answer the questions as fully and clearly as possible and a discussion about possible organ donation follows. But the most important thing for me is the supportive framework that must exist afterwards, with referral to mental health specialists, if the relatives wish or it is deemed necessary. In all cases, announcers and survivors share a moment together that cannot be forgotten.” concludes Mr. Statharakos.
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