Grief-Sensitive Communication: Patients and Their Supporters

Communication is central to healthcare, especially in moments shaped by loss, uncertainty, and change. Healthcare professionals often navigate conversations that carry emotional weight, limited time, and high stakes, even when grief is present but not explicitly named.

This self-guided resource builds on foundational grief literacy by strengthening communication skills that support trust, clarity, and emotional safety across healthcare settings. This resource module:

• Explores how grief can shape communication, understanding, and engagement in care
• Introduces mentalization as a practical skill for navigating grief, strong emotions, and uncertainty
• Examines how assumptions, language, and bias can influence grief-sensitive interactions
• Identifies words and phrases that can unintentionally minimize grief, and offers alternatives that support acknowledgment and validation
• Supports communication with patients and supporters across the lifespan, identities, and care contexts
• Strengthens skills for responding to grief when emotions are intense, ambiguous, or difficult to name

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