Welcome to the 26th WONCA Europe Virtual Conference Programme Scheduling

Abstract Body

1. Background

As COVID-19 devastates the world, we have seen many patients perish in a short amount of time. The majority have died alone due to the restrictions concerning social distancing. Many were not able to say goodbye to their loved ones.

2. Aim and learning objectives

To approach patients in mourning using the necessary skills to make them feel listened to, understood, and supported. We hope this workshop will help you understand the painful difficulties COVID19 has brought to every patient and doctor. We expect all participants to feel confident in their abilities to handle the situation in various role-playing interviews after the presentation.

3. Methods and timetable

5min - A brief presentation from our team

15min- Explanation of the basis of the mourning process

40min- Presentation of different cases, using the role-playing method to explore many possibilities given the pandemic limitations. We will open with an example from the times before COVID-19 and then continue with different scenarios adapted to consider special cultural situations, inpatient settings, and professional differences between patients and families. After each case, we will underline the most important points (the dos and don'ts) during the interview, with true/false questions to summarize learning topics.

15min- Take Home Messages

4. (Proposed) Results / Conclusions

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants should empathize by understanding that people are unaware of how their loved one's last hours were, and that may develop into complicated mourning. In addition to acknowledging it, we want to help our colleagues manage their patients' feelings and avoid a pathological grief.