Also Known As:
Grief support, hospice grief counseling, mourning support, bereavement services. See also: Grief Support.
Type:
Post-loss emotional and grief care
Primary Purpose:
To walk alongside surviving family members for at least 13 months after the death, through the firsts, the holidays, and the quiet weeks in between.
When It Applies:
Begins immediately after the patient’s passing and continues for a minimum of 13 months under Medicare hospice rules.
Who Is Involved:
A bereavement coordinator, social worker, chaplain, trained grief counselor, family members, and close loved ones.
Where It Occurs:
By phone, in-person visits, mailed grief materials, virtual sessions, or community grief groups, whatever fits the family’s needs.
Duration:
Minimum 13 months after the patient’s passing under the Medicare Hospice Benefit.
Coverage:
Included with the hospice benefit at no additional cost to the family.
Key Focus:
Grief education, emotional processing, anniversary and holiday support, identifying complicated grief, and connecting family to community resources.
Common Misunderstanding:
Bereavement support isn’t just a phone call after the funeral. It’s a full year of contact, planned around the dates that hurt most, anniversaries, birthdays, and the holidays your loved one used to host.
What Hospice Bereavement Support Actually Includes
Bereavement is the long, uneven season that follows a death. For families who have walked through hospice with us, the care doesn’t end at the funeral. Lifted’s bereavement team stays in touch, through phone calls, mailed grief resources, in-person counseling sessions when wanted, and community grief groups when families are ready.
Common forms of support include:
- Regular phone check-ins from a bereavement coordinator
- Mailed grief education materials timed to the firsts (first month, three months, six months, one year)
- One-on-one grief counseling sessions, in-person or virtual
- Support groups for spouses, adult children, and other caregivers
- Chaplain support for spiritual questions and memorial planning
- Referrals to licensed therapists when grief becomes complicated or prolonged
Why 13 Months
The Medicare Hospice Benefit requires bereavement support for at least 13 months. That number isn’t arbitrary. It carries the family through every first, the first holiday season without them, the first birthday, the first anniversary of the death.
Grief doesn’t resolve in 90 days. The early weeks are full of casseroles and phone calls. Months three through twelve are often quieter on the outside and harder on the inside. That’s the gap bereavement support is built to fill.
Grief Looks Different for Everyone
Some people feel deep sadness. Others feel anger, guilt, relief, anxiety, or all of those in the same week. Some need a weekly call. Others want a quiet card on the anniversary and nothing more.
Lifted’s bereavement team meets families where they are. There’s no correct timeline, no required participation, and no judgment about what helps. Most families end up using more support than they expected, especially around the holidays.
Read more about our approach to bereavement care, or contact our team if you have questions about what comes after.