{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]],"date-time":"2026-07-31T05:57:47Z","timestamp":1785477467512,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,6]],"date-time":"2024-06-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1717632000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003921","name":"Department of Health and Aged Care, Australian Government","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MRF2005576"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MRF2005576"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003921","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\"><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>COVID-19 disrupted access to bereavement support. The objective of this study was to identify the bereavement supports used by Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic, perceived helpfulness of supports used, prevalence and areas of unmet support need, and characteristics of those with unmet support needs.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec002\"><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A convenience sample of bereaved adults completed an online questionnaire (April 2021-April 2022) about their bereavement experiences including support use and perceived helpfulness, unmet support needs and mental health. Multiple logistic regression was conducted to determine sociodemographic correlates of unmet needs. Open-ended responses were examined using content analysis to determine key themes.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec003\"><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>1,878 bereaved Australians completed the questionnaire. Participants were mostly women (94.9%) living in major cities (68%) and reported the death of a parent (45%), with an average age of 55.1 years (SD = 12.2). The five most used supports were family and friends, self-help resources, general practitioners, psychologists, and internet\/online community groups. Notably, each was nominated as most helpful and most unhelpful by participants. Two-thirds (66%) reported specific unmet support needs. Those with unmet needs scored lower on mental health measures. Correlates of unmet needs included being of younger age, being a spouse or parent to the deceased; reporting more impacts from public health measures, and not reporting family and friends as supports. The most frequent unmet need was for social support after the death and during lockdown.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec004\"><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study demonstrates the complexity of bereavement support needs during a pandemic. Specialised grief therapy needs to be more readily available to the minority of grievers who would benefit from it. A clear recommendation for a bereavement support action plan is to bolster the ability of social networks to provide support in times of loss. The fostering of social support in the wake of bereavement is a major gap that needs to be addressed in practice, policy, and research.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0304025","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,6]],"date-time":"2024-06-06T17:35:44Z","timestamp":1717695344000},"page":"e0304025","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Support needs of Australians bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6984-8702","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Serra E.","family":"Ivynian","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fiona","family":"Maccallum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sungwon","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0463-0363","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Lauren J.","family":"Breen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jane L.","family":"Phillips","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Meera","family":"Agar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Annmarie","family":"Hosie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jennifer","family":"Tieman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michelle","family":"DiGiacomo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tim","family":"Luckett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jennifer","family":"Philip","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ann","family":"Dadich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christopher","family":"Grossman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8177-5833","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Imelda","family":"Gilmore","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Janeane","family":"Harlum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Irina","family":"Kinchin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicholas","family":"Glasgow","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elizabeth A.","family":"Lobb","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,6]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0304025.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0121101","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0121101","article-title":"Who Needs Bereavement Support? A Population Based Survey of Bereavement Risk and Support Need","volume":"10","author":"SM Aoun","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLOS ONE."},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0304025.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1378","DOI":"10.1177\/0269216318774995","article-title":"What sources of bereavement support are perceived helpful by bereaved people and why? Empirical evidence for the compassionate communities approach.","volume":"32","author":"SM Aoun","year":"2018","journal-title":"Palliative medicine."},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0304025.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"260","DOI":"10.1037\/0882-7974.19.2.260","article-title":"Prospective patterns of resilience and maladjustment during widowhood.","volume":"19","author":"GA Bonanno","year":"2004","journal-title":"Psychology and aging."},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2632352420935132","DOI":"10.1177\/2632352420935132","article-title":"The impact of bereavement support on wellbeing: a comparative study between Australia and Ireland.","volume":"14","author":"SM Aoun","year":"2020","journal-title":"Palliative Care and Social Practice"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0304025.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1150","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.83.5.1150","article-title":"Resilience to loss and chronic grief: a prospective study from preloss to 18-months postloss","volume":"83","author":"GA Bonanno","year":"2002","journal-title":"Journal of personality and social psychology"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0304025.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"275","DOI":"10.1177\/1049909115615568","article-title":"Building community capacity in bereavement support: Lessons learnt from bereaved caregivers","volume":"34","author":"LJ Breen","year":"2017","journal-title":"American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine\u00ae."},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0304025.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1225","DOI":"10.1176\/ps.62.10.pss6210_1225","article-title":"Underutilization of mental health services among bereaved caregivers with prolonged grief disorder.","volume":"62","author":"WG Lichtenthal","year":"2011","journal-title":"Psychiatric Services."},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"275","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315229829-21","volume-title":"Readings in thanatology","author":"KJ Doka","year":"2020"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0304025.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e046872","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2020-046872","article-title":"\u2019A silent epidemic of grief\u2019: a survey of bereavement care provision in the UK and Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic.","volume":"11","author":"C Pearce","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0304025.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"395","DOI":"10.1080\/03069885.2022.2075540","article-title":"Grief and functional impairment following COVID-19 loss in a treatment-seeking sample: the mediating role of meaning","volume":"51","author":"LJ Breen","year":"2023","journal-title":"British Journal of Guidance & Counselling."},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0304025.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1080\/07481187.2021.1974666","article-title":"Risk factors for dysfunctional grief and functional impairment for all causes of death during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of meaning.","volume":"46","author":"LJ Breen","year":"2022","journal-title":"Death Studies"},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref012","author":"The UK Commision on Bereavement","year":"2022","journal-title":"Bereavement is everyone\u2019s business: 2022 Summary report."},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref013","first-page":"2021.06.11.21258575","volume-title":"Support needs and barriers to accessing support: Baseline results of a mixed-methods national survey of people bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic.","author":"E Harrop","year":"2021"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0304025.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s12877-021-02352-1","article-title":"A national survey on COVID-19 second-wave lockdowns on older adults\u2019 mental wellbeing, health-seeking behaviours and social outcomes across Australia.","volume":"21","author":"J Siette","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMC geriatrics."},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref015","author":"P Shergold","year":"2022","journal-title":"Fault Lines: An independent review into Australia\u2019s response to COVID-19"},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref016","author":"Australasian Psychological Society","year":"2022","journal-title":"1 in 3 psychologists are unable to see new clients, but Australians need help more than ever The Australasian Psychological Society: The Australasian Psychological Society"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0304025.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1753-6405.2012.00825.x","article-title":"A public health approach to bereavement support services in palliative care","volume":"36","author":"S Aoun","year":"2012","journal-title":"Australian and New Zealand journal of public health"},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref018","author":"European Grief Conference","year":"2022","journal-title":"Four-tiered needs-based bereavement care model"},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref019","unstructured":"The Irish Hospice Foundation. Adult Bereavement Care Pyramid. A National Framework. In: Foundation TIH, editor. Dublin2020."},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0304025.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"673","DOI":"10.1080\/07481187.2010.496686","article-title":"Predictors of complicated grief: A systematic review of empirical studies.","volume":"34","author":"EA Lobb","year":"2010","journal-title":"Death studies."},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0304025.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1080\/108114402753344481","article-title":"Communicating with the community about grieving: A description and review of the foundations of a broken leg analogy of grieving","volume":"7","author":"JA Murray","year":"2002","journal-title":"Journal of Loss &Trauma"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0304025.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"98","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-6427.2010.00495.x","article-title":"Family and social networks after bereavement: Experiences of support, change and isolation","volume":"33","author":"LJ Breen","year":"2011","journal-title":"Journal of Family Therapy"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0304025.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"464","DOI":"10.1177\/2167702620902748","article-title":"The masking of mourning: Social disconnection after bereavement and its role in psychological distress","volume":"8","author":"KV Smith","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clinical Psychological Science"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0304025.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1030","DOI":"10.1521\/jscp.2005.24.7.1030","article-title":"Does social support help in bereavement?","volume":"24","author":"W Stroebe","year":"2005","journal-title":"Journal of social and Clinical Psychology"},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref025","author":"I Higginson","year":"2004","journal-title":"Improving supportive and palliative care for adults with cancer: research evidence"},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.1016\/j.puhe.2020.10.034","article-title":"Responding to the new International Classification of Diseases-11 prolonged grief disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic: a new bereavement network and three-tiered model of care.","volume":"191","author":"C Killikelly","year":"2021","journal-title":"Public Health."},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref027","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2019.04.065","article-title":"Psychological interventions for grief in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials","volume":"253","author":"M Johannsen","year":"2019","journal-title":"Journal of Affective Disorders"},{"issue":"21","key":"pone.0304025.ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2601","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.293.21.2601","article-title":"Treatment of complicated grief: a randomized controlled trial","volume":"293","author":"K Shear","year":"2005","journal-title":"Jama"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0304025.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"685","DOI":"10.1001\/jamapsychiatry.2016.0892","article-title":"Optimizing treatment of complicated grief: A randomized clinical trial","volume":"73","author":"MK Shear","year":"2016","journal-title":"JAMA psychiatry"},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref030","first-page":"1","article-title":"The mental health of Australians bereaved during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic: a latent class analysis.","volume":"2024","author":"F Maccallum","journal-title":"Psychological Medicine"},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref031","first-page":"509","article-title":"The PHQ-9: a new depression diagnostic and severity measure.","author":"K Kroenke","year":"2002","journal-title":"Slack Incorporated Thorofare, NJ"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0304025.ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"606","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x","article-title":"The PHQ\u20109: validity of a brief depression severity measure","volume":"16","author":"K Kroenke","year":"2001","journal-title":"Journal of general internal medicine"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0304025.ref033","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1092","DOI":"10.1001\/archinte.166.10.1092","article-title":"A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7","volume":"166","author":"RL Spitzer","year":"2006","journal-title":"Archives of internal medicine"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0304025.ref034","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"96","DOI":"10.1002\/wps.20823","article-title":"Validation of the new DSM\u20105\u2010TR criteria for prolonged grief disorder and the PG\u201013\u2010Revised (PG\u201013\u2010R) scale.","volume":"20","author":"HG Prigerson","year":"2021","journal-title":"World Psychiatry."},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0304025.ref035","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1277","DOI":"10.1177\/1049732305276687","article-title":"Three approaches to qualitative content analysis.","volume":"15","author":"H-F Hsieh","year":"2005","journal-title":"Qualitative health research."},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref036","volume-title":"Remoteness Structure.","author":"Australian Bureau of Statistics"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0304025.ref037","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"425","DOI":"10.1080\/07481187.2020.1739780","article-title":"Grief literacy: A call to action for compassionate communities.","volume":"46","author":"LJ Breen","year":"2022","journal-title":"Death studies."},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref038","author":"SE Clark","year":"2003","journal-title":"Loss and Grief in General Practice: The Development and Evaluation of Two Instruments to Detect and Measure Grief in General Practice Patients"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0304025.ref039","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"471","DOI":"10.1080\/07481187.2017.1382610","article-title":"Social support following bereavement: The role of beliefs, expectations, and support intentions.","volume":"42","author":"EL Logan","year":"2018","journal-title":"Death studies."},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0304025.ref040","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"313","DOI":"10.2190\/OM.66.4.c","article-title":"The preparation of graduate health professionals for working with bereaved clients: an Australian perspective.","volume":"66","author":"LJ Breen","year":"2013","journal-title":"OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying"},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref041","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/1472-6920-14-59","article-title":"General Practitioners\u2019 experiences of bereavement care and their educational support needs: a qualitative study.","volume":"14","author":"M O\u2019Connor","year":"2014","journal-title":"BMC Medical Education"},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref042","article-title":"What do people really think about grief counseling? Examining community attitudes.","author":"LJ Breen","year":"2018","journal-title":"Death Studies."},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0304025.ref043","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"667","DOI":"10.1177\/00048674211025728","article-title":"Prolonged grief disorder in DSM-5-TR: Early predictors and longitudinal measurement invariance","volume":"56","author":"PA Boelen","year":"2022","journal-title":"Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry."},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref044","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brat.2014.07.005","article-title":"A randomized controlled trial of an internet-based therapist-assisted indicated preventive intervention for prolonged grief disorder","volume":"61","author":"BT Litz","year":"2014","journal-title":"Behaviour research and therapy"},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref045","volume-title":"Making sense of dying and death Oxford","author":"S. O\u2019Driscoll","year":"2004"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0304025.ref046","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.3233\/HAB-200420","article-title":"Global burden of COVID-19: Situational analyis and review","volume":"29","author":"AA Gebru","year":"2021","journal-title":"Human antibodies"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0304025.ref047","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"283","DOI":"10.1111\/ajag.12982","article-title":"Characteristics of nursing homes associated with COVID\u201019 outbreaks and mortality among residents in Victoria, Australia.","volume":"40","author":"JE Ibrahim","year":"2021","journal-title":"Australasian Journal on Ageing"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0304025.ref048","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"328","DOI":"10.1177\/00048674211031159","article-title":"The Productivity Commission inquiry into mental health","volume":"56","author":"H. Whiteford","year":"2022","journal-title":"Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry."},{"issue":"9603","key":"pone.0304025.ref049","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1960","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(07)61816-9","article-title":"Health outcomes of bereavement","volume":"370","author":"M Stroebe","year":"2007","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"key":"pone.0304025.ref050","volume-title":"Household use of information technology [Internet]","author":"Australian Bureau of Statistics"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0304025","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,21]],"date-time":"2024-11-21T08:20:50Z","timestamp":1732177250000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0304025"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Juan A.","family":"L\u00f3pez-Rodr\u00edguez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,6]]},"references-count":50,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,6]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0304025","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,6]]}}}