EC Nursing and Healthcare

Context: In their lifetime, human beings experience different grieving episodes, which may be facilitated or hindered intrinsic or extrinsic factors. The Mental Health and Psychiatry Specialist Nurse (MHPSN) can play a decisive role in the monitoring of the bereaved by boosting factors that facilitate the process and minimising risk factors for Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD). This support can encourage adaptive grieving processes, reducing associated morbidities and resulting in health gains.

Objective: To reflect on the identification of Prolonged Grief Disorder in the bereaved, in a Primary Health Care context, as a setting for the promotion of mental health, and to develop a mental health intervention programme (TransSMutar) anchored in the Disease Prevention Model with a focus on promoting strategies that enhance adaptive grief.

Methodology: Bibliographic research was used, as well as reflection on empirical experience within a practical context.

Results: The establishment of the TranSMuteiting programme contributes to the goals established by the WHO (2013/2030) and reinforces the importance of an evidence-centered practice.

Conclusion: In the context of Primary Care, the development of selective responses is essential, and the role of the Mental Health and Psychiatry Specialist Nurse is crucial. The MHPSN's interventions with the bereaved, through structured support, could pave the way for the development of necessary and relevant area of intervention, which is still at an early stage in a community context.

Keywords: Grief; Mental Health; Health Promotion; Nursing Interventions

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