Background: Little is known about how bereaved people used informal support to cope with their grief under varying public health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aim: To explore informal supports and coping strategies utilised by bereaved family and friends of people receiving palliative care to manage their grief between 2020 and 2021.

Methods: Australian adults who experienced a death from any cause during 2020-2021 participated in a one-hour semi-structured phone or ZOOM interview focused on where the death occurred (hospital, palliative care, a residential aged care facility or elsewhere). Recruitment continued until data saturation was reached (n=100). Sixteen participants indicated their family member/friend was receiving palliative care at the time of death and form the basis of this analysis. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed according to Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis.

Results: The following themes emerged: 1) enduring unprecedented social isolation; and 2) drawing on available resources where choice is limited. Participants reported the challenges of social isolation and disconnection during the pandemic. Many were unable to physically gather with their family and friends to grieve due to various public health restrictions across time and locations. Participants described adapting to restrictions by using the resources and coping strategies available to them to fulfil support needs during grief. While participants described feeling supported by palliative care clinicians before the death of their friend/relative, they reported a need for information about bereavement support. 

Conclusion: Bereaved families and friends of people receiving palliative care sought informal support and used various coping strategies to manage their grief during the pandemic. Palliative care teams can better facilitate coping by providing information on grief and bereavement before the death. This would include information and linkage to informal support networks, community groups, and bereavement counselling services, as well as information about adaptive coping strategies.