• Charlotte Boven, Let Dillen, Lieve Van den Block, Ruth Piers, Nele Van Den Noortgate, and Liesbeth Van Humbeeck.
• Department of Geriatric Medicine (C.B., R.P., N.V.D.N., L.V.H.), Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Charlotte.Boven@UZGENT.be.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2022 Mar 1; 63 (3): e295-e316.

ContextGlobally, people most often die within hospitals. As such, healthcare providers in hospitals are frequently confronted with dying persons and their bereaved relatives.ObjectivesTo provide an overview of the current role hospitals take in providing bereavement care. Furthermore, we want to present an operational definition of bereavement care, the way it is currently implemented, relatives' satisfaction of receiving these services, and finally barriers and facilitators regarding the provision of bereavement care.MethodsAn integrative review was conducted by searching four electronic databases, from January 2011 to December 2020, resulting in 47 studies. Different study designs were included and results were reported in accordance with the theoretical framework of Whittemore and Knafl (2005).ResultsOnly four articles defined bereavement care: two as services offered solely post loss and the other two as services offered pre and post loss. Although different bereavement services were delivered the time surrounding the death, the follow-up of bereaved relatives was less routinely offered. Relatives appreciated all bereavement services, which were rather informally and ad-hoc provided to them. Healthcare providers perceived bereavement care as important, but the provision was challenged by numerous factors (such as insufficient education and time).ConclusionCurrent in-hospital bereavement care can be seen as an act of care that is provided ad-hoc, resulting from the good-will of individual staff members. A tiered or stepped approach based on needs is preferred, as it allocates funds towards individuals-at-risk. Effective partnerships between hospitals and the community can be a useful, sustainable and cost-effective strategy.Copyright © 2021 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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