Calling in Grief: A retrospective analysis of the effectiveness of a Telehealth grief counselling program through a community-based organisation

Empirical evidence is lacking on the effectiveness of grief telephone counselling, particularly in Australia. This study addresses an important gap by evaluating the effectiveness of the Integrating Grief Program – Victoria (IGP-V), an Australian telephone-based intervention. A retrospective analysis of IGP-V session data was analysed with 197 former clients, examining change in psychological distress (Kessler 10; K10) across pre- and post-treatment time points. Psychological distress significantly decreased at a group and individual level; 48% of the participants showed a reliable reduction in their symptoms (n= 95) while 31.4% showed a change that was both reliable and clinically significant (n= 62). Further analyses examined K10 subscales: Anxiety (comprising ‘nervous’, ‘agitated’) and Depression (comprising ‘fatigue’, ‘negative affect’). Depression was significantly more prominent in the sample than Anxiety, and both Anxiety and Depression decreased over time, with a stronger reduction in depression. Of the depression subscales, fatigue was the most prominent pre- and post-treatment, while negative affect reduced the most post-treatment. A Latent Class Analysis (LCA) identified three subgroups (low, medium, and high distress) based on K10 subscales. The medium distress group demonstrated the greatest treatment responsiveness, with 41% (n = 41) showing reliable and clinically significant change. With few studies exploring the effectiveness of grief counselling in Australian populations, this research provides important preliminary evidence of IGP-V’s potential to reduce grief related psychological distress. These findings are a vital first step toward improving grief support and mental health services in Australia, with further studies set to expand on this promising preliminary data.