Table 2 Characteristics and key findings of the included studies

Tsai, 2007, Middle Taiwan [36]

14 bereaved family members of cancer patients, the gender of the participants not mentioned

Grounded theory

1. The benefits of religion for family members’ bereavement: providing support, relieving shocks caused by the death of a loved one, religious communities became a supportive system, performing religious rituals which might be beneficial for the deceased, knowing the place afterlife the deceased has gone to, having continuing bonds with the deceased, believing in a reunion with the deceased in the future

Tsai, 2009a, Not mentioned [37]

11 bereaved adult children whose parents died from cancer (n = 7 females), recruited from family support groups or hospitals

Grounded theory

1. The deceased parent became virtual existence and had a new position with different functions in their family. The functions of the new position of the deceased included: communication, decision-making, and having space and affections such as feeling beloved by the deceased parent

2. The methods of continuing bonds between the bereaved children and the deceased parent included: fulfilling the deceased’s last wishes, carrying on the deceased’s legacy such as recognising the deceased as a role model

Tsai, 2009b,

Not mentioned [38]

14 bereaved family members of cancer patients (n = 9 females), were recruited from family support groups or hospitals

Grounded theory

1. Changes in the family relationships of the bereaved after the death of a loved one included: becoming closer in family relationships, repairing conflicts among family members, becoming more isolated in family relationships, arguing with each other more often

Lin et al., 2011,

Southern Taiwan [39]

10 bereaved caregivers whose spouse died from cancer and received specialist inpatient palliative care (n = 7 females)

Phenomenological Longitudinal interviews

Themes: the imaginative rumination, such as a sense of the deceased’s presence; transformative symbol, such as keeping or throwing away the deceased’s belongings; the ethical relationship, such as keeping thinking of the marital relationship and building or refusing new relationships

Hung, 2013,

, Middle Taiwan [40]

6 bereaved adult family members of patients who died from chronic disease (n = 4 females)

Ethnography

Effects of performing funeral rituals included: having no time to go through the grief, accepting the truth of the death of a loved one, suppressing individual emotions, facilitating expression of collective emotions, receiving support from other relatives, experiencing reconnection with the deceased

Cheng, 2016,

Not mentioned [41]

1 middle-aged widow whose husband died from lung cancer

Thematic analysis

Anniversary or holiday reactions of the bereaved included: feeling sad, feeling sorry for the children, going to the tomb, avoiding happy people, easily getting irritated with relatives and friends, spending holidays with friends having a similar experience

Jung and Hung, 2017,

Not mentioned [42]

1 middle-aged, single female whose father died from cancer and received palliative care service

Narrative inquiry

Themes: the grief reactions such as poor appetite, crying alone, and suppressing emotions in publics, missing a lot about the deceased such as talking to the deceased and watching audio records of the deceased, learning to change such as learning to become independent and cherishing families and friends, accepting the death of the loved one such as the belief in a reunion with the deceased

Lee et al., 2017,

Southern Taiwan [43]

10 family members whose spouse died from cancer and received specialist inpatient palliative care (n = 7 females)

Phenomenological

Longitudinal interviews

Secondary qualitative data analysis [44]

Theme 1: a blurred boundary of life (Yang) and death (Yin): reuniting the deceased through different means such as perceived physical encounters, dreaming of the deceased and performing religious rituals; receiving blessings from the deceased; love never dies and yuan (緣) never ends

Theme 2: the transformation of relational bonds between the bereaved and the deceased such as believing in reincarnation; reinventing the ethical bonds among family members such as reassigning roles and responsibilities

Liang and Lai, 2020, Southern Taiwan [45]

6 bereaved adult children of cancer patients who received specialist inpatient palliative care (n = 5 females)

Focus group

Content analysis

Themes: physical and mental suffering such as poor sleep, loss of weight, and missing the deceased sorely; bittersweet emotions such as sadness, self-blame, and no regret due to good death; unreal feelings and fighting back tears such as a sense of unreality and crying alone; scene-evoked memories such as seeing the deceased’s belongings; self-reflection such as reconsidering life goals

Lai et al., 2021,

Southern Taiwan [46]

16 family caregivers of cancer patients who received specialist inpatient palliative care (n = 11 females)

Thematic analysis

Themes: grieving in silence; taboo topics such as avoiding talking about the deceased; emotion hiding such as maintaining a superficial “okay”; asynchronous grief; relational tension such as comparing the intensity of grief to each other family

Shih et al., 2010,

Northern Taiwan [47]

20 older females whose husbands died from chronic disease, recruited from the community administration offices in five districts

Mixed method (survey and critical thematic analysis)

1. Participants with strong religious beliefs reported fewer coping problems

2. Coping problems the participants had, for example, loneliness, being withdrawn, low self-esteem, not wanting to become a burden to their children, low income, lacking help in housekeeping, moving home

3. Coping strategies the participants used, for example, learning self-care, making money, shopping by themselves, living a simple life, paying attention to their own health, receiving support from family members and friends, helping others, becoming optimistic, confident, and calm, praying, chanting, worshipping ancestors, searching for divination resources

Liu and Lai, 2006, Northern Taiwan [48]

120 adult family caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients who received specialist inpatient palliative care, 65% female

Longitudinal survey

1. The relationship between anticipatory grief and grief during bereavement remains unclear

2. Age and gender of family caregivers and their relationship to the deceased were not associated with grief during bereavement

Hsieh et al., 2007,

Northern Taiwan [49]

46 family caregivers of advanced cancer patients who received specialist inpatient palliative care, 56.5% female

Longitudinal survey

1. There was no difference in grief reactions 1 month after death between family caregivers whose patients died at home versus those who died in the hospital

2. Predictor of grief reactions immediately after the death of the patient was the family caregiver’s educational level

3. Predictors of grief reactions 1 month after the death of the patient were the patient’s age and the perception that the patient had unfinished business

Chiu et al., 2010, Southern Taiwan [50]

668 bereaved family caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients who received specialist inpatient or palliative care consultation, 60.6% female

Cross-sectional survey

1. The prevalence of complicated grief was 24.6% (n = 164)

2. Risk factors of complicated grief: female gender, spouse relationship, parents-children relationship, no religious belief, unavailable family support, history of mood co-morbidity

3. Protective factors of complicated grief: longer duration of caring, caregivers with medical disease history, patients being cared for on the hospice ward

Chiu et al., 2011,

Southern Taiwan [51]

432 bereaved family caregivers of terminal cancer patients who received specialist inpatient palliative care, 71.1% female

Cross-sectional survey

1. The prevalence of prolonged grief was 9.95% (n = 43)

2. Risk factors of prolonged grief: older age, female, spousal relationship, parent-child relationship, caregivers suffering medical disease

3. Protective factors of prolonged grief: education, higher income, a longer duration of caring for patients, religious belief, good family support, good social support

Tsai et al., 2016,

Northern Taiwan [52]

493 family caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients in the general medical inpatient unit, 64.7% female

Longitudinal survey

1. The prevalence of prolonged grief among family caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients decreased through the first years of bereavement with 7.37% (28 out of 380), 1.80% (6 out of 334), 2.49% (7 out of 281), and 1.85% (4 out of 216) at 6, 13, 18, and 24 months after death, respectively

2. Risk factors of prolonged grief: caregivers who suffered from more severe depressive symptoms before the loss, perceived a more difficult dying process and death, and were less prepared for the death

3. Protective factors of prolonged grief: caregivers who reported higher subjective caregiving burden before death and perceived greater concurrent social support

Shen et al., 2018,

Northern Taiwan [53]

143 family members of advanced cancer patients in a palliative care unit or terminal cases in six intensive care units, 55.2% female

Longitudinal

survey

1. Family members of patients in the palliative care unit had lower grief levels than those in the intensive care units 3 days and 1 month after the death

2. For the palliative care unit, family members of patients who received palliative sedation therapy had higher levels of grief than those of patients who did not receive such therapy

3. Risk predictors of higher grief levels: good or very good intimacy relationship with patients, female family members, younger patients