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. 2021 Apr;38(4):419-422.
doi: 10.1177/1049909120978796. Epub 2020 Dec 7.

Grief: The Epidemic Within an Epidemic

Sarah Elizabeth Petry  1 , Dalton Hughes  2 , Anthony Galanos  2
Affiliations

Grief: The Epidemic Within an Epidemic

Sarah Elizabeth Petry et al. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

COVID-19 has not only dramatically changed the way we live, it has also impacted how we die and how we grieve. With more and more Americans dying in ICU settings, away from family, and more funerals being held virtually, the pandemic has seriously curtailed normal expressions of grief and cultural mourning. Given the CDC guidelines for funerals and social distancing, simple human touch is no longer a mitigating force against prolonged grief. So, while one epidemic has a face and a name, we point to a second, more silent yet potentially equally devastating one, unacknowledged grief, and emphasize how policy can be a current therapeutic. We can wait for a vaccine, but we can also act now through thoughtful policymaking that acknowledges this second epidemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; bereavement; complicated grief; epidemic; grief; policy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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