The effects of a bereavement support group on caregivers of Alzheimer victims

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of a structured seven-week pilot bereavement support group on six caregivers who are grieving the death of a loved one with Alzheimer's disease. The James and Cherry, 16-step grief recovery model is the design used by the group. A one group pretest post-test experimental design is used to test the experimental hypothesis that the bereavement support group will facilitate the participants' grieving process. The Beck Depression Inventory and the Texas Revised Inventory of Griefare the measurements used in this experiment. The post-test results indicate that a statistically significant improvement was seen in the reduction of grief, but no significant change was reported in regard to depression. These results indicate thatfurther research is needed to support the use of this particular grief recovery model. It also raises questions as to whether depression is a variable to be measured when studying the grief process.

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