Online therapy for grief related to coronavirus deaths
In May this year, 19 research contributions received grants from the COVID-19 Fund of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. Which research is involved, who will be carrying it out and what are the expectations? Last but not least, which coronavirus measure should be kept around forever, in the researcher's opinion?
Research contribution: Grief after coronavirus – Online aid for the bereaved
Main applicants: Lonneke Lenferink and (speaking below) Paul Boelen.
What is the research about?
We are studying the effects of an online treatment for those who have lost loved ones during the coronavirus crisis, whether or not due to the consequences of the novel coronavirus, and who are having difficulties with their grieving process. The online therapy is based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
Anyone who loses a loved one these days has to deal with various types of special circumstances which we think make grieving more difficult. This includes matters such as not being able to say goodbye, little physically present social support, and small-scale funeral and farewell rituals. And in cases where someone died due to COVID-18, this will also include, for example, a speedy decline due to illness, being admitted to an intensive care unit, a loved one who died alone, in the absence of those close to them.
How are you conducting the research?
Lonneke Lenferink and I (together with others) have developed a beneficial online therapy based on CBT for those who are having difficulty grieving; the therapy is under the auspices of Therapieland (a renowned eHealth organisation). The therapy is unsupervised. As a research team, working from home, we do of course monitor the intake and how participants experience the therapy.
We expect this project will also yield knowledge regarding online therapy aimed at addressing grieving issues.
What will the research (hopefully) yield and what would you like to do with the results?
We would like to determine the degree to which online treatment based on CBT is useful for individuals who have lost a loved one during this coronavirus crisis. We expect that the treatment will not only contribute to the good care for those who have lost loved ones in these special times, but that this project will also yield knowledge regarding online therapy aimed at addressing grieving issues. This is a topic we still know very little about.
When do you expect to be able to share the initial results?
We expect to share our first results in December 2020.
Nieuwsuur
On Sunday 4 October, the Dutch television news programme Nieuwsuur broadcast a brief report (in Dutch) on what it is like to never really be able to say farewell form a loved one due to the coronavirus measures. Lonneke Lenferink explained the problems that those grieving in these circumstances might be having difficulty dealing with. The ‘grieving and coronavirus’ website rouwencorona (in Dutch) has more information about this research project.