Editorial: Exploring bereavement and public health: the role of family and friend caregivers in community well-being

Please update social media impact numbers before final publication.The circle of bereavement after the deaths of family and friends broadly influences societal health (1,2).As yet, no public health surveillance systems quantify bereavement at population or geographic scale. This creates a huge gap in our understanding of the role that bereavement plays in population illness. Consider the course of bereavement among family caregivers. We encouraged studies of this group because they are largely unseen in their grief. This collection was developed with an intentional focus on bereaved groups. With this approach, we wanted to identify needs extending beyond individuals to the broader society. The initiation and course of bereavement is a global issue shaped by cultural and local practices (3). This level of complexity creates a need for larger frame for studies of bereaved populations. Reframing requires study designs incorporating qualitative methods, novel approaches to dataset development, an expanded view of bereavement in the life course, and longitudinal studies. This collection of papers is designed to encourage scaling by showcasing the beginning of studies designed to fill these and other gaps. Building on this first volume, a second volume is being planned to incorporate lessons learned from this first effort to broaden the frame of bereavement and better define its role in public health.For this Research Topic, we recruited studies that emphasize bereaved groups. Family caregivers are just one such group. Emphasizing group bereavement is a novel and needed perspective. By recognizing caregiver bereavement, public health develops interventions to overcome the challenges faced by caregivers and their communities during a challenging time (4). With a view of group bereavement perspective, policy costs, eligibility criteria and timely application can be developed. It's impact can be evaluated. By using a model created to address caregiver grief, stronger support networks can be envisioned for any group experiencing bereavement.Health to promote this series. Grief is international. This recognition formed the basis for selection of the articles selected for inclusion. The eight articles in this collection provide readers with a glimpse of this broader landscape. A second volume is currently under development. Forty-five authors from across the globe contributed their research. The larger community showed their interest in this topic with 29,876 article views and 3,794 downloads to date.Weathers and colleagues (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/publichealth/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1611824/abstract) showed that 54% of 2,259 adults in Ireland surveyed in 2021 and 2022 reported having experienced one or more losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of these, 14% met criteria for prolonged grief disorder and 26% indicated sub-threshold prolonged grief disorder, leading the authors to conclude that the findings provide support for public health models of bereavement care.Nielsen and colleagues measured prolonged grief symptoms in a sample of 1,735 adults in Denmark who were bereaved by the death of a relative over a period of 10 years (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/publichealth/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1619730/full) Compared to a low grief trajectory group (45%), a high grief trajectory group (6%) showed persistent high grief symptom levels and had significantly more general practitioner appointments, mental health service use, prescription medication use, and excess mortality.Tognela and colleagues (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/publichealth/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1659628/full) interviewed 16 bereaved parents in Australia about their social support experiences-including when it goes well and when it doesn't-showing that social support is a dynamic, relational, and subjective process where attunement between the supporter and recipient matters. The findings align with concern about approaches that uncritically positioned bereavement care as a community responsibility without acknowledgement that community members are not always equipped to provide such support (Breen et al., 2022).Schwind and colleagues ( https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/publichealth/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1619672/full) provide a multidisciplinary, multi-national perspective of family caregiving and well-being in adult chronic illness. In drawing on their scholarly expertise in Australia, Germany, and Switzerland, the authors outline a compelling argument for reimaging research and practice so that that the well-being of families, structural enables and barriers, and broader family and social contexts, become central areas of focus.In a systematic review, Cui and colleagues (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/publichealth/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1580039/full) conducted a qualitative meta-synthesis of studies to explore the experiences and needs of family members following perinatal infant deaths. The researchers identified 10 studies from nine countries that together showed several unmet needs requiring comprehensive, tailored support strategies.Andriessen and colleagues (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/publichealth/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1613951/full) interviewed 34 men bereaved by suicide in Australia. The findings showed the profound, multifaceted impacts of suicide bereavement, including disruptions to close relationships and caregiving roles such as being a full and present parent. conditions were over four times more likely to develop mental health conditions following bereavement compared to spouses with no preexisting mental health diagnoses.Finally, Chen and colleagues (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/publichealth/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1548256/full) used data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study to investigate the trajectories of depressive symptoms associated with child bereavement among older adults in China. Analysis showed the presence of four trajectories of depressive symptoms associated with child bereavement: low depression that rapidly increases (12%), high depression that rapidly declines (12%), high depression that slowly increases (23%), and stable low depression (53%).Caregivers will be a continuing focus. The International Alliance of Carer Organizations -representing 17 countries -reported an estimated 251.5 million persons are engaged in family caregiving (5). In addition to family caregivers, individuals employed in public safety, public health, and other professional fields are also exposed to high rates of deaths and dying. These are individuals who are also vulnerable to the health risks associated with bereavement. To guide clinical care and policy support, it is essential to expand the public health response to bereavement.