Effective services for bereaved spouses: a content analysis of the empirical literature.

To investigate the elements needed to serve bereaved spouses effectively, a content analysis of nine experimental studies on bereavement programs was conducted. A coding system was used to analyze the studies on five practice-related variables: characteristics of the client, the practitioner, the intervention, the research methodology, and the outcome. Comparisons between effective and ineffective programs indicated that planned brief intervention is effective in preventing or reducing symptoms of morbid grief among spouses who are at high risk or in high distress. Findings also revealed the need for practice and research on bereavement to use an ecological framework and to address issues of human diversity.