Grief and Palliative Care in the time of COVID-19

This Major Research Paper utilizes a critical discourse analysis to explore how grief is being talked about in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. The discursive sample consists of ten publicly available texts, produced within a North American context. These texts were examined through Anti-Oppressive Practice and Stress Process Model theories. The dominant discourses that arose throughout the analyzed texts were: the “bad” or “lonely” death; distant rituals - downfalls of the digital embrace; political health spending; the rise of complicated grief; and palliative care at home - the isolated and abandoned. The analysis and discussion raised themes of neoliberalism and inequalities when providing care. Future steps include more research on palliative care at home, specifically care provided to those who do not have Covid-19. This research is needed to address the ways in which neoliberal retrenchment of the welfare state has created further strain to caregivers, both emotionally, and financially.