ABSTRACT
Objectives: This research aimed to examine health care workers’ grief counseling for bereaved families of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) victims in China. Our research may provide a new opportunity to stimulate development of grief counseling in China.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 724 health care workers selected by convenience sampling from seven hospitals in Wuhan. Data collection tools included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the skills of grief counseling scale (SGCS), and the attitudes of grief counseling scale (AGCS).
Results: The average SGCS score was 18.96±4.66, whose influencing factors consisted of sense of responsibility, frequency of contact with bereaved families, and relevant training (P<0.05). The average AGCS score was 33.36±8.70, whose influencing factors consisted of other grief counseling skills, communication skills, education background, and relevant training (P<0.05).
Conclusions: The skills and attitudes toward grief counseling among health care workers combating COVID-19 were at a lower level in Wuhan, China, indicating the need to build a comprehensive grief counseling system, establish a standardized training course, and strengthen the popularization of grief counseling services to the public.