ArticlePalliative medicine2021
'Saying goodbye' during the COVID-19 pandemic: A document analysis of online newspapers with implications for end of life care.
Article in Palliative medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Farewell, grief and depression of individuals who lost close relatives during social isolation: A mixed methods study.Atencion primaria · 2026Observational
- Waves of hurt faced by families due to a hospitalised relative with COVID-19 in the Cape Flats.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2025Article
- Advance care planning before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational cohort study of 73 675 patients' records.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Death Unpreparedness Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Concept Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- "Are you listening?": Experiences shared online by family caregivers of patients in the palliative phase during the Covid-19-pandemic.PloS one · 2024Article
- End of life care during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study on the perspectives of nurses and nurse assistants.Nursing open · 2023Article
- A Qualitative Analysis of Management Perspectives on Seeking to Implement the Foster Cat Project in Residential Aged Care in the Context of COVID-19.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Socially vulnerable populations adoption of technology to address lifestyle changes amid COVID-19 in the US.Data and information management · 2022Article
- Risk factors associated with poorer experiences of end-of-life care and challenges in early bereavement: Results of a national online survey of people bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic.Palliative medicine · 2022Article
- Identification of Digital Health Priorities for Palliative Care Research: Modified Delphi Study.JMIR aging · 2022Article
- A qualitative study of nursing practitioners' experiences with COVID-19 patients dying alone in Greece.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- 'It was brutal. It still is': a qualitative analysis of the challenges of bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic reported in two national surveys.Palliative care and social practice · 2022Article
- End-of-Life Experiences for Cancer Patients Dying in Hospital with COVID-19.Journal of patient experience · 2022Article
- Commentary on "Remote Advance Care Planning in the Emergency Department During COVID-19 Disaster: Program Development and Initial Evaluation".Journal of emergency nursing · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNews media create a sense-making narrative, shaping, reflecting and enforcing cultural ideas and experiences. Reportage of COVID-related death and bereavement illuminates public perceptions of, and responses to, the COVID-19 pandemic.
aimWe aimed to explore British newspaper representations of 'saying goodbye' before and after a COVID-related death and consider clinical implications.
designDocument analysis of UK online newspaper articles published during 2 week-long periods in March-April 2020. DATA SOURCES: The seven most-read online newspapers were searched: The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Mirror, The Sun, The Times and The Metro. Fifty-five articles discussed bereavement after a human death from COVID-19, published during 18/03-24/03/2020 (the UK's transition into lockdown) or 08/04-14/04/2020 (the UK peak of the pandemic's first wave).
resultsThe act of 'saying goodbye' (before, during and after death) was central to media representations of COVID bereavement, represented as inherently important and profoundly disrupted. Bedside access was portrayed as restricted, variable and uncertain, with families begging or bargaining for contact. Video-link goodbyes were described with ambivalence. Patients were portrayed as 'dying alone' regardless of clinician presence. Funerals were portrayed as travesties and grieving alone as unnatural. Articles focused on what was forbidden and offered little practical guidance.
conclusionNewspapers portrayed COVID-19 as disruptive to rituals of 'saying goodbye' before, during and after death. Adaptations were presented as insufficient attempts to ameliorate tragic situations. More nuanced and supportive reporting is recommended. Clinicians and other professionals supporting the bereaved can play an important role in offering alternative narratives.
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