Parental perspectives on the grief and support needs of children and young people bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic: qualitative findings from a national survey

Harrop, Emily; Goss, Silvia; Longo, Mirella; Seddon, Kathy; Torrens‐Burton, Anna; Sutton, Eileen; Farnell, Damian J. J.; Penny, Alison; Nelson, Annmarie; Byrne, Anthony; Selman, Lucy E

doi:10.1186/s12904-022-01066-4

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Although this study was conducted pre‐COVID‐19 pandemic, its findings are relevant regarding the needs of bereaved parents and children as professionals and services move forward. Also, similar findings have been highlighted during the COVID‐19 pandemic 10 . As participation required individuals to respond to an invite or an advert, the needs of these individuals may differ to those who decided not to take part.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

“…Bereavement is often a period of major transition for individuals and can involve disruption to a person's routine, available social networks and relationships 7–9 . When a parent has died, the bereaved parent is now having to navigate their own grief and the children's, whilst managing parenting alone 10,11 . Sadly, this is not an uncommon phenomenon for families, with 20% of children in the United Kingdom experiencing the death of a parent before their eighteenth birthday 12 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘I didn't know what was in front of me’—Bereaved parents' experience of adapting to life when a co‐parent of dependent children has died with cancer

Hanna

Semple

2022

Psycho-Oncology

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Objective It is not clear how the bereaved parent navigates life with the children after a co‐parent has died. The objective of this study is to explore bereaved parents' experience of managing life when a co‐parent of dependent children has died with cancer. Methods Twenty‐one in‐depth interviews were conducted with bereaved parents when a co‐parent died with cancer. Data were analysed thematically. Results Bereaved parents highlighted how their children was their key focus after the death of a co‐parent with cancer, as they effortfully strived to be a ‘perfect parent’. While some bereaved parents struggled to adapt to the role as a sole parent, others described the importance of maximising social networks to help with the practical aspects of parenting. However, most bereaved parents described intense feelings of loneliness as they navigated parenting alone. To help navigate this post‐bereavement period, parents considered it important for their children to openly talk about the deceased parent. Also, meeting others who have experienced similar situations was helpful for the bereaved parent and children, providing hope for the future. Results are discussed under two themes: (1) adapting to life without the parent, and (2) a desire to keep the memory alive of the parent that died with cancer. Conclusions Bereaved parents should be encouraged to practice self‐care when a co‐parent has died from cancer so they can appropriately meet the needs of their children. Bereaved parents should be reassured that showing emotion in front of the children is helpful and could facilitate better grief experiences for the whole family.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘I didn't know what was in front of me’—Bereaved parents' experience of adapting to life when a co‐parent of dependent children has died with cancer

Hanna

Semple

2022

Psycho-Oncology

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“…This work is part of a larger research study which also examined experiences of bereavement during the pandemic in the UK. 14 , 25 – 27 …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This work is part of a larger research study which also examined experiences of bereavement during the pandemic in the UK. 14,[25][26][27] Setting and population: Voluntary and community sectors bereavement services in the UK.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Sadly I think we are sort of still quite white, middle-class really’ – Inequities in access to bereavement support: Findings from a mixed methods study

et al. 2022

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Background: Voluntary and community sector bereavement services are central to bereavement support in the UK. Aim: To determine service providers’ perspectives on access to their support before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Mixed methods study using an explanatory sequential design: (1) Cross-sectional online survey of UK bereavement services; (2) Qualitative interviews with staff and volunteers at selected services. Settings/participants: 147 services participated in the survey; 24 interviews were conducted across 14 services. Results: 67.3% of services reported there were groups with unmet needs not accessing their services before the pandemic; most frequently people from minoritised ethnic communities (49%), sexual minority groups (26.5%), deprived areas (24.5%) and men (23.8%). Compared with before the pandemic, 3.4% of services were seeing more people from minoritised ethnic groups, while 6.1% were seeing fewer. 25.2% of services did not collect ethnicity data. Qualitative findings demonstrated the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on minoritised ethnic communities, including disruption to care/mourning practices, and the need for culturally appropriate support. During the pandemic outreach activities were sometimes deprioritised; however, increased collaboration was also reported. Online provision improved access but excluded some. Positive interventions to increase equity included collecting client demographic data; improving outreach, language accessibility and staff representation; supporting other professionals to provide bereavement support; local collaboration and co-production. Conclusions: Service providers report inequities in access to bereavement support. Attention needs to be paid to identifying, assessing and meeting unmet needs for appropriate bereavement support. Identified positive interventions can inform service provision and research.

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“…1 The methodology behind this estimate is described in Unwin et al (2022) and Hillis et al (2022) provides an updated report on the global picture. Children bereaved during the pandemic have experienced additional challenges (Harrop et al, 2022) which, like other mass death events, has had a significant impact on young people's mental health (Coombes, 2020).…”

Section: Endnotesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The one thing guaranteed in life and yet they won’t teach you about it':

Dawson¹,

Hare²,

Selman³

et al. 2023

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Nearly all British children will be bereaved of someone close to them by the time they turn eighteen and, with the COVID-19 pandemic and world humanitarian crises across the news and social media, they are being exposed to more anxiety about death than ever before. There is a growing awareness that grief education needs to be embedded into the UK national curriculum to help school pupils think and talk about death and prepare them to manage grief or support others. As it stands, although excellent teaching resources exist, there is no requirement for schools to cover grief, death and loss and many pupils have no classes about these difficult topics. This article provides a narrative review of research on grief education in schools. We examine six key questions, summarising: evidence that children benefit from talking about grief, death and loss; studies on when and how to integrate the topics into the curriculum; and ways to overcome the teacher training gap. Following the lead of child bereavement charities and educational and mental health research, we identify a need for a coordinated national approach to teaching children and young people about grief, death and loss and offer evidence-based recommendations for its implementation.

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Parental perspectives on the grief and support needs of children and young people bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic: qualitative findings from a national survey

Cited by 19 publications

References 37 publications

‘I didn't know what was in front of me’—Bereaved parents' experience of adapting to life when a co‐parent of dependent children has died with cancer

‘I didn't know what was in front of me’—Bereaved parents' experience of adapting to life when a co‐parent of dependent children has died with cancer

‘Sadly I think we are sort of still quite white, middle-class really’ – Inequities in access to bereavement support: Findings from a mixed methods study

The one thing guaranteed in life and yet they won’t teach you about it':

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