Psych CASC / OSCE · Old age psychiatry — grief and loss
Explain late-life bereavement and prolonged grief to family — CASC communication station
MRCPsych/FRANZCP-style communication station: explain adaptive grief vs PGD vs MDD, duration clocks, CGT, avoid long-term benzodiazepines, suicide safety, practical supports.
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Target exams
Station brief
Format. Communication station, approximately 7–10 minutes active time after reading. You are the old-age psychiatry registrar in outpatient clinic. [1]
Candidate instructions. Explain in plain language the difference between normal grief and prolonged grief disorder; address fear that this is dementia or "going mad"; outline grief-focused psychological treatment (CGT evidence in older adults); explain that long-term sleeping tablets are not the treatment; discuss depression screening and suicide safety; outline practical supports and follow-up; check understanding. Examiner plays the daughter. [1][2][5]
References5ShowHide
- [1]Shear MK, Wang Y, Skritskaya N, et al. Treatment of complicated grief in elderly persons: a randomized clinical trial JAMA Psychiatry, 2014.PMID 25250737
- [2]Prigerson HG, Horowitz MJ, Jacobs SC, et al. Prolonged grief disorder: Psychometric validation of criteria proposed for DSM-V and ICD-11 PLoS Med, 2009.PMID 19652695
- [3]Kendler KS, Myers J, Zisook S Does bereavement-related major depression differ from major depression associated with other stressful life events? Am J Psychiatry, 2008.PMID 18708488
- [4]Stroebe M, Schut H, Stroebe W Health outcomes of bereavement Lancet, 2007.PMID 18068517
- [5]Simon NM, Shear MK, Reynolds CF, et al. Commentary on evidence in support of a grief-related condition as a DSM diagnosis Depress Anxiety, 2020.PMID 31916663