Dr Kaori Shimoinaba1, Professor Helen Rawson1, Dr Kim Crawford1, Dr Den-Ching A Lee2,3, Dr Aislinn Lalor2,4, Dr Yunjing Qiu5, Ms Kim-Maree Jackson6
1Monash University, Australia, 2Rehabilitation Ageing and Independent Living (RAIL) Research Centre, Monash University, Australia, 3National Centre for Healthy Ageing, Monash University and Peninsula Health, Australia, 4Department of Occupational Therapy, Monash University, Australia, 5School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Technology Sydney, Australia, 6The Village Baxter, Australia
Biography:
Kaori is a senior lecturer at Monash University Nursing and Midwifery. Kaori teaches undergraduate and postgraduate programs on palliative care and cultural competency.
Kaori completed her PhD with the topic of “Staff grief and support systems for Japanese health care professionals working in palliative care” and supported by NHMRC Postgraduate Public Health Scholarship and Japan Hospice Palliative Care Foundation.
Research interests include palliative and end-of-life care, aged care, healthcare professionals’ grief and support, loss and grief, resilience, death education, and cultural competency. Kaori also holds a counselling qualification in grief and bereavement care.
Abstract:
Background:
Managers in residential aged care homes (RACHs) have great responsibility for staff’s psychological safety. Our previous research identified that staff can experience grief following resident deaths. Such emotional distress is considered as a ‘psychological hazard’ according to the Safe Work Australia’s psychological health and safety guideline. Cumulated unrecognised grief and lack of support can decrease staff wellbeing and contribute to burnout.
We co-designed a staff grief support program with RACH staff and managers, and pilot-tested it. This study reports managers’ views on staff grief and the effectiveness of the program to improve staff’s psychological health and wellbeing.
Aims:
To explore RACH managers’ views on staff grief, available support for staff and pilot-tested staff grief support program.
Methods:
Managers from five RACHs participated in the staff grief support program were invited to attend semi-structured online interviews between May to July 2025. Interview data were analysed adopting Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis method.
Results:
Seven managers participated in online interviews (average 33 minutes) and five were registered nurses. Four themes were identified: 1) Unique relationships and grief, 2) Unspoken role, stigma and expectation, 3) Usefulness of the program, and 4) Facilitator role needed.
Managers acknowledged that RACH staff become like a second family for residents, and they grieve after resident deaths. Staff may mask their grief during the shift but grieve privately. Some RACHs have a formal debriefing or one-on-one follow-up by managers, but all agreed that the support for staff grief is lacking. Managers mentioned stigma around healthcare professionals seeking support as a sign of weakness.
Conclusion:
The pilot staff grief support program was highly regarded as effective that their staff were open to their experiences and feelings in an emotionally safe environment. Managers strongly support to embedding the program and adopting the facilitator role in their organisations.
106