Purpose: This article develops immediate understandings of loss and grief at both an individual and collective level following the first-wave of COVID-19 in the UK. This allows for insights into the likely challenges and support for loss and grief in facing unprecedented disruption and uncertainty. Ultimately, it explores avenues for the priorities to inform better bereavement support.Methods: By examining trusted media data and carefully selected academic literature, we analyse both individual and societal responses to loss and grief in the novel context of the first-wave of COVID-19 in the UK. The discussion relocates the ideas of good and bad deaths in the context of increased social constrains and inequalities. Further, two pairs of contrasting hypotheses are proposed to examine how the UK's first-wave outbreak has shaped policy and practical structures and how these have further impacted experiences of loss and grief both at an individual and collective level.Findings: The discussion captures a mixed picture of loss and grief in the UK, which highlights the importance of timely, holistic, and continuous support both in social policy and care provision. It is found that individuals and collectives express diverse needs in response to deaths and losses as a process of meaning-making. Further, the significance of socio-cultural environments also become evident. These findings highlight community support during the outbreak and further promote a grief literate culture as imperative to support individual and collective needs when confronted with loss and grief.Conclusion: This article provides a timely and comprehensive account of possible challenges and support both for individual and collective experiences of loss and grief at a time of unprecedented social restrictions and mass deaths in the UK. These understandings provide a base from which we advocate the priorities for future research into the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on grief and bereavement.

<p><a></a>This article develops preliminary understandings of loss and grief at both an individual and collective level following the COVID-19 outbreak. By examining relevant media and academic discourses, the authors analyse and envisage challenges and support for those experiencing loss during COVID-19. The discussion revisits and further relocates the ideas of good and bad deaths in the context of increased social constrains and inequalities. Further, two pairs of contrasting hypotheses are proposed to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on both bereaved individuals and society as a whole during and post the outbreak. The discussion captures a mixed picture of grief and bereavement, which highlights the importance of timely, holistic and continuous support. It is found that individual and collectives express diverse needs to respond to deaths and losses as a process of meaning-making. Further the significance of socio-cultural environments also become evident. These findings highlight community support during COVID-19 and further promote a grief literate culture as imperative to support individual and collective needs when confronted with loss and grief. This article provides timely and comprehensive accounts of possible challenges and support both for individual and collective experiences of loss and grief. These understandings could facilitate further research, informing better practice and policy decisions to support the bereaved in the context of COVID-19 and other disruptive world events.</p>

Background Growing older is often associated with resilience, contentedness and inner growth. Older people however are also at risk of confronting unique emotional challenges as a result of varied ageing-related experiences. By employing a biographical lens, we aim to introduce storytelling as a methodological tool to more holistically explore older people’s emotional challenges and to improve their wellbeing. Methods Building upon theoretical understandings about the narrative construction of identity across the life span, we draw upon a qualitative study about older people’s loneliness as an example to showcase the methodological value and feasibility of biographical storytelling. We aim to better understand the nuanced and sometimes painful emotional experiences that can be encountered alongside ageing. Results Findings from the qualitative study we showcase, highlight that unique emotional pains and the (in)ability to deal with such in old age could be deeply rooted in older people’s earlier lives. These findings contextualise people’s emotional challenges and needs within their identity, as a narrative thread that links their past, present and expected future. As such, our example study shows that emotional challenges in old age are not only ageing-related, but can be more fundamentally connected to disruptions to the ongoing flow of narrative identity construction. Conclusion The highly retrospective and reflexive nature of these findings illustrates the methodological merit of biographical storytelling. We argue that the impact of biographical storytelling can go further than both conventional semi-structured narrative interviews and existing interventional tools. Instead, it is a particularly useful research methodology to explore human experiences and needs in the unique context of ageing. This methodological development thus provides an insightful analytical lens to explore how older people’s earlier life experiences may be carried forward and confronted to shape their emotional stability in the present and future stages of their ageing lives. Beyond the methodological significance, we further demonstrate the benefits of empowering older people to reconstruct their ageing lives in the context of their biography.

<p><a></a>This article develops preliminary understandings of loss and grief at both an individual and collective level following the COVID-19 outbreak. By examining relevant media and academic discourses, the authors analyse and envisage challenges and support for those experiencing loss during COVID-19. The discussion revisits and further relocates the ideas of good and bad deaths in the context of increased social constrains and inequalities. Further, two pairs of contrasting hypotheses are proposed to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on both bereaved individuals and society as a whole during and post the outbreak. The discussion captures a mixed picture of grief and bereavement, which highlights the importance of timely, holistic and continuous support. It is found that individual and collectives express diverse needs to respond to deaths and losses as a process of meaning-making. Further the significance of socio-cultural environments also become evident. These findings highlight community support during COVID-19 and further promote a grief literate culture as imperative to support individual and collective needs when confronted with loss and grief. This article provides timely and comprehensive accounts of possible challenges and support both for individual and collective experiences of loss and grief. These understandings could facilitate further research, informing better practice and policy decisions to support the bereaved in the context of COVID-19 and other disruptive world events.</p>

Background: Older people are at risk of confronting emotional challenges, including loneliness, depression, anxiety and low-levels of wellbeing, as a result of varied ageing-related changes. These emotional challenges may further give rise to socio-health issues and even increased mortality, presenting a pressing public health issue in the context of population ageing. By employing a biographical lens, we aim to introduce storytelling as a methodological tool to more holistically explore the construction of their emotional challenges within the context of their life histories. Methods: Building upon theoretical understandings about the social construction of the life course, we draw on a qualitative study about older people’s loneliness to showcase the methodological value and feasibility of implementing biographical storytelling, to better understand the nuanced and sometimes painful emotional experiences facing people alongside their ageing. Results: Findings from the qualitative study we showcase highlight that not only older people’s emotional pains but also their (in)ability to deal with such are deeply rooted in their earlier lives. The biographical nature of these findings further illustrates the methodological merit of biographical storytelling, integrating meaningful narratives from across different life stages to more holistically understand and support people’s emotional challenges and wellbeing in old age. Conclusion: We argue that biographical storytelling is a particularly useful research methodology to explore the experiences and needs of older people, who have often accumulated rich life stories and who may be at increased risk of facing changes and challenges following bodily deterioration and other ageing-related losses. This methodological development can empower older people to reconstruct their ageing lives in the context of their biography as an ongoing construction. The development also lies in an insightful analytical lens to explore how older people’s earlier life experiences may be carried forward and confronted to shape their emotional stability in the present and future stages of their ageing lives.