79th WHA Individual Statements
Palliative care is one of the few health care services that integrates mental health support for all individuals and families served. Social work, psychology, psychiatry, and chaplaincy are core components of any high-quality interdisciplinary palliative care team caring for people with serious illness. Palliative care programs also provide bereavement support to families before and at the time of death, and in the months that follow, based on need. Prolonged grief disorder may affect as many as 10% of the more than 60 million people bereaved each year and can require mental health services to restore full functioning. Lost productivity, turnover, and absenteeism cost employers hundreds of billions of dollars annually. We urge the inclusion of grief and bereavement as a priority area in the comprehensive mental health action plan.