Factors that influence the efficacy of bereavement life review therapy for spiritual well-being: a qualitative analysis

We have previously shown that bereavement life review therapy improves the spiritual well-being of a bereaved family, but the factors that influence the efficacy of this therapy have not been determined. Therefore, this study was performed to identify factors associated with improvement of spiritual well-being of bereaved families.

The participants were 21 bereaved family members who lost a relative who had been treated in a palliative care unit in Japan. The family members received the Bereavement Life Review over two sessions of about 60 min each. In the first session, the bereaved family member reviewed their memories of the deceased relative with a clinical psychologist and answered several questions. After the first session, the psychologist made an album. In the second session, the family member and the psychologist confirmed the accuracy of the contents of the album. Assessment was performed using the Functional Assessment Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual score, based on which the participants were separated into effective and non-effective groups. Factors were extracted from the narrative of the therapy using a text-mining software.

Factors such as “good memories of family,” “loss and reconstruction,” and “pleasant memories of last days” were commonly found in the effective group, whereas factors such as “suffering with memories,” “regret and sense of guilt,” and “disagreement on funeral arrangements” were more common in the non-effective group.

Factors like “good memories of families,” “loss and reconstruction,” and “pleasant memories of last days” were associated with the improvement of spiritual well-being of bereaved families.