Grief Research:
Gaps, Needs and Actions

The Grief Research: Gaps, Needs and Actions project was undertaken by the Center for the Advancement of Health, with funding from the Project on Death in America, to assess the state of the grief and bereavement field. The project made recommendations to the PDIA for the next steps that can be taken to build capacity in the field, develop and support leaders in research and practice and build effective partnerships between researchers, participants and policy-makers.

The overall purpose of the project was to improve the ability of professionals and lay counselors to effectively diagnose, treat and support grieving individuals and families. This requires improved scientific understanding of the phenomenon of normal and complex grief, development and testing of treatment interventions and broad dissemination of the results of these scientific explorations in useful formats to medical and mental health professionals as well as to lay and faith-based counselors.