Literature Review of Definition of Anticipatory Grief in Terminal Care

Abstract

The concept of anticipatory grief was first identified by Lindemann as a grief response that appeared in latent fomi prior to death． We searched through the literature for this concept． The approach to anticipatory grief research has been that understanding how post－mortem grief can be ameliorated was more important than developing a clear conceptual understanding of anticipatory grief． lt became clear that anticipatory grief was different from grief after death． ln addition， it was important to review this concept from the social cultural perspective． Recently， anticipatory grief has been more broadly seen as not only a loss in response to unavoidable death but also a response to a variety of past， present， and future losses．

Anticipatory grief in terminal care is somewhat more broadly defined as “physical， psychological， social and spiritual changes within a process toward death from the moment we recognize that the death of the family is inevitable”． Furthennore， it seemed that this concept should be structured．