Wednesday, January 08, 2014
Interesting resources identified over the past 2 years:
1.
Briefing:
Grief and DSM-V. This briefing, written by Alison Penny on behalf of the
National Bereavement Alliance and the
Childhood Bereavement Network in the UK, provides a succinct account of the way
bereavement is to be treated in the latest DSM-V, - the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the
American Psychiatric Association. It
provides some positive and negative aspects of these changes. (In the newly published version, persistent complex bereavement disorder
is included in the section Conditions for Further Study)
2.
The following blog by an American psychiatrist considers
the editors of the DSM-V (5th
edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatirc
Association) ) have been right in the way they have handled bereavement in this
new edition. The 15 comments on the blog consider alternative viewpoints. The issue is probably of greater importance
in the United States but the above document and this one, together with
references, provide varied examples of viewpoints.
3.
White Craig A. Living with complicated grief. Sheldon Press 2013. This is an evidence based, self-help manual
based on CBT methods recommended for complicated grief. It could
be helpful to some bereaved people as they browse a selection of
literature on bereavement. It could also be useful as a text for a bereavement
group The author rightly suggests that a bereaved person ideally requires a companion with whom to
discuss the exercises.
As a text, it would be
appropriate for professionals as they discuss
and examine their own perception and possible treatment of complicated grief.
4.
Graves D. Setting up and facilitating bereavement
support groups. Jessica Kingsley 2012. The author is a bereavement services
co-ordinator in a hospice in England. The book has proved popular with staff working with bereavement
groups at the hospice where I work. Amongst other topics, it includes what
makes a good facilitator, managing dynamics in a group, different types of
groups (eg closed, open, structured, non-structured) and
pitfalls along the way. The appendix contains an example of an
evaluation sheet as well as an example of the records kept by a facilitator.
5.
Moss J. Writing
in bereavement. A creative handbook. Jessica Kingsley 2012. The book considers different ways that
bereaved people can be helped by writing about their bereavement experiences.
The author provides imaginative creative writing exercises for groups and
individuals, using a variety of literary forms.
Some chapter headings are: reflecting on change, writing for memorial,
endings, reflection and feedback, resources for establishing a writing group,
writing exercises and prompts. Undoubtedly it could also be used in groups
facing other types of losses.
6.
Neimeyer R.A. Techniques of grief therapy. Creative practices for counseling
7.
Below is a link to some cartoons by a young man.
They depict his grief after the death of his girlfriend. The visual
representation of grief is especially useful for those who do not feel able to
read. He has published a book with more cartoons about his bereavement called
The End by Anders Nilsen. Turnaround Books 2013
8.
Thompson Neil. Grief and its challenges. Palgrave 2012. This
book spans a great deal of issues
concerned with loss and grief – from personal and professional responses to
grief to social problems associated with loss. The chapter on traditional and contemporary
theories of grief is especially useful for the many students who are required
to know about them as it provides a
succinct summary. For those who already
work in the field of bereavement, there are many useful insights to deepening
one’s knowledge, especially of the social effects of bereavement.
9. Birrell
J et al. Socio-economic costs of
bereavement in Scotland: Main study
Report. Robert Gordon University 2013. The conclusions of this
report suggest that that as spousal bereavement is associated not only with
increased mortality but also with longer hospital stays, it is recommended that
the Scottish Government a) includes information on guidance for the recently
bereaved that aims to increase awareness and self-recognition of developing
problems that may benefit from professional help or more general social support
2) includes this information in relevant documents and dialogue with health and
social care professionals 3) provides
systems for collection of data to
facilitate accurate estimation of costs in primary care – as the socio-economic
effect is likely to be considerably under-estimated 5) relevant funding bodies commission further
research addressing the various socio-economic impacts of bereavement. The
recommendations could be taken up by other governments and agencies.
10. Berns
Nancy. Closure. The rush to end grief and
what it costs us. Temple University Press 2011. This
is primarily a critique of the term closure
in helping people who have suffered significant losses. She examines the various meanings of the term
in the context of losses, focusing primarily
on the social aspects – but it also covers
political, psychological and commercial
(yes!) considerations. Although she mentions many complex meanings of the word,
she considers seven key aspects of the term: closing a chapter, remembering,
forgetting, getting even, knowing, confessing
and forgiving. One of her key themes is that closure is so often
depicted as a necessary and healthy way to deal with bereavement when in fact
it is not a panacea. An excellent book review by Paul Rosenblatt (Review of N. Berns, Closure: The Rush to End
Grief and What It Costs. Death Studies, 37, 589-594) complements
the book well. “I have learned from the book and it deserves
attention.” However, he cautions that a
focus on the complexity of one aspect of bereavement inevitably excludes many
other important considerations of the topic.
11. Rappaport
Nancy. In her wake. A child psychiatrist
explores the mystery of her mother’s suicide. Basic Books 2009. The author is an experienced child
psychiatrist who has delved into her mother’s life to try and understand the
reasons for her suicide. The result is a
powerful family saga of a wealthy and influential family, touching on the sad
and happy aspects of their lives. The
eloquent writing highlights the importance of trying to understand aspects of
one’s own life in the context of one’s family history, especially when a mother
has died when a child is young. She
describes an evolving accepting relationship with her father but her bulwark
has been her husband and children. She is obviously a successful doctor
but her childhood losses have been ever-present in her life. She does not talk
of resilience but of a “stubborn refusal to succumb to the current of despair”.
12. Wadey
A. Finding meaning in the bureaucracy of
bereavement. Bereavement Care 2013 v32 no1 p39-43. The author has extensive
experience of advising people on the various practical aspects that bereaved
people have to attend to, in the aftermath of a death eg legal recognition of
death, arranging for disposal of the body and dealing with money and personal
effects. There is little research on this but the author has provided information
and advice on these issues over 20 years, Her contention is that better
communication of the purpose behind the administrative tasks can only result in
a better service, but also help bereaved people to find some meaning in the
bureaucracy of death.
13. Westerink
D, Stroebe M. The death of a grandparent Bereavement
Care 2012 v31 no1 p6-10. This short article provides a short review and
discussion of the literature on bereaved grandchildren (on which there is
little research). It describes a case study, based on an interview with a young
man who lost his much-loved grandmother in early adolescence. The strong and unique bonds between
grandchildren and grandparent are often unrecognised.
14. Kerslake
K. Cruse Bereavement Care – somewhere to
turn when someone dies. Grief Matters 2012 v15 no3 p523-56. Cruse is the
UK’s leading bereavement care charity providing a range of local and national
services. This article outlines its history from a small service for widows to
a national organisation with more than 6,000 volunteers. It also outlines its work in influencing policy in the UK and its work with various partners. It has
been in existence for 54 years and is constantly developing its services. In 2011-2102 over 38,000 clients received one-to-one support from Cruse.
15. European
Association of Palliative Care. 13th world congress, Book of
abstracts. The number of posters on bereavement numbered just four (further details from EAPC website or request
via author of blog) – Support for bereaved and
pre-bereaved siblings within a palliative care context (Scotland),
Bereavement: the bright and dark side of online discussion forums (England) , Recording voices in palliative care: how does
providing an oral history at the end of life influence well-being of the individual and the
bereaved (England) and How do children and their parents experience a family
bereavement group (Germany) – all interesting topics though it would be good to
have seen more.
16. European
Association of Palliative Care blog. Bereavement
care provision in palliative care – a European descriptive and
consensus-building exercise. This
is a survey currently taking place on bereavement services in Europe. The aim
is to a) Develop a baseline description
of current bereavement care in palliative care services in Europe b) Formulate
recommendations for bereavement care principles, structures, processes and
delivery based on current practice and evidence 3) Establish a consensus on these
recommendations. Further information at:
17. Parkes
CM. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, On death and
dying: a reappraisal. 2013 Mortality
v18 no 1 p94-97. It is useful to have
some consideration of classic texts even if currently out of favour in the
academic and clinical world. This was an
influential book and Colin Murray Parkes
provides an overview. It is a
collection of case studies of people at
the end of life, published in 1969. It
helped to bring public attention to the topic, including the need to improve care. However, for a
variety of reasons, Kubler-Ross was left
“isolated from the mainstream and
vulnerable to exploitation by her devotees” (from the abstract).
18. Ness
P. A monster calls. Walker 2012. This is children’s book that has won many
accolades. It is a story about a young boy whose mother has advanced cancer and
during her illness, the monster tells
stories to the young boy during the night.
The original idea is by a woman who had terminal cancer and died before
the book was published. The following
link is a discussion of the book with some comments. One comment
suggests that the book is not one that would help children with dying
parents. So read it first!
19. Life as a widower. It is just over a
year since Benjamin
Brooks-Dutton’s wife, Desreen, died in a car accident leaving him a young
widower with a 2 year old son. He started the blog a few weeks after Desreen
died, thinking initially it would simply help
men to show their feelings following a death but he got so many
responses that he now states “The blog explores themes of loss and grief from both my son’s and my own
point of view. It also frequently features guest posts about bereavement, loss
and grief of all kinds from anyone who has an interesting, thought provoking or
touching story to tell.”
20. Heaney
S. The Haw Lantern. Faber and Faber
1987. The following link is from a poem
about the death of the poet’s mother. It is titled Clearances – in memoriam MKH1911-1984. No doubt there will be poems on remembering
the poet himself in due course but this poem reflects the often small things
that will stay closely in our hearts
following the death of a parent
. The last hours of life can also bring
unexpectedly deep insights:
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
A resource a month over 2011 and into 2012
1.Neimeyer RA, Harris DA, Winokuer HR, Thornton GF (eds)
Grief and bereavement in contemporary society. Bridging research and practice
Routledge 2011
This book has contributions from 60 eminent writers (both clinicians and researchers) on grief and bereavement from 10 countries around the world.
It is has 31 chapters and is divided into 6 main sections – current conceptualisations of the grief process, contexts of grieving, challenges in bereavement, specific populations, specialised treatment modalities, grief in a global perspective. If you have read widely on bereavement issues, you will recognise many of the authors. If you have not, you will be introduced to a wide variety of contemporary perspectives. I have dipped into a number of chapters and I was especially struck by the chapter on “The remedy is not working” – seeking just and culturally conscientious practices in bereavement by Valarie Molaison et al. It describes and comments on the issue of death and grieving in a case study of a young African-American youth in a poor inner city area in the United States. It was challenging, engaging and sad. One would like to know how the young man viewed his counselling many years on. Does he even remember it? – or will the experience be of any use to him sometime in his future?
2.Wimpenny P, Costello J (eds)
Grief loss and bereavement. Evidence and practice for health and social care practitioners.
Routledge 2012
This book also has a broad remit though it is aimed at practitioners to a greater extent and most of the contributors are working in Scotland, either as practitioners or as researchers. It has sixteen chapters and is divided into 3 parts – 1) bereavement across the life span 2) contexts of bereavement and 3) education interventions and organisation of bereavement care. The context of bereavement section covers topics such as bereavement in primary care, perinatal bereavement, bereavement in care homes and bereavement and occupational health. There is an interesting array of figures, tables and boxes (26 in all) that summarise key concepts in current thinking on bereavement issues. It is a book aimed at specialists in bereavement work but also at health and social care professionals who need to further their understanding of bereavement issues in the context of their overall work. A poem by a poet based in Scotland called The dead is on the introductory page and it can be viewed on the poet’s website:
http://www.pauline-prior-pitt.com/poems.html
3.Wicks Robert J
The resilient clinician
Oxford University Press 2008
This is not newly published, nor is it specifically on bereavement. However, it is for counsellors and any professional involved in working closely with people who need help with emotional problems. It is written by a psychotherapist and the essence of the book is about how clinicians care for and know themselves so that they can continue to have the “space” to offer to others. It enables one to assess the extent to which one is currently reacting to stress in dealing with one’s clients. The first three chapters provide some idea of the approach: Sensing the dangers - chronic and acute secondary stress: Enhancing resiliency - strengthening one’s own self-care protocol: Replenishing the self-solitude, silence and mindfulness. The author places great emphasis on daily debriefing and concludes with some questions to aid reflection.
I especially liked one quote, reputedly from the Russian playwright (and doctor) Anton Chechov “Any idiot can face a crisis – it’s the day to day living that wears you out”.
4. Bereavement Care. A recent issue focussed on evaluation of
bereavement services – below are key references from this issue
(2011 volume 30 no1)
SCHUT HENK STROEBE MARGARET
Challenges in evaluating adult bereavement services p5-9
ROLLS LIZ
Challenges in evaluating childhood bereavement services p10-15
NEWSOM C
Practitioners and researchers working together in an intervention
efficacy study: A fine example of synergy p16-20
ROBERTS AMANDA MCGILLOWAY SINEAD
Methodological and ethical aspects of evaluation research in
bereavement: A reflection p21-28
TRICKEY DAVID NUGUS DANNY
Evaluation of a therapeutic residential intervention for
traumatically bereaved children and young people p29-36
MCGUINESS BREFFNI FINUCANE NIAMH
Evaluating a creative arts bereavement support intervention:
innovation and rigour p37-42
Colin Murray Parkes, editor, has received (January 2012) the Sternberg Active Life Award from the Times newspaper.
5. The last posting referred to a literature review on bereavement published by the Department of Health in the UK. This was followed up by draft quality markers on spiritual and bereavement care
http://www.endoflifecareforadults.nhs.uk/assets/downloads/Draft_Spiritual_Support_and_Bereavement_Care_Quality_Markers.pdf
In November, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence in the UK published End of Life Care quality markers and there is a section on bereavement which refers to the above documents:
http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qualitystandards/endoflifecare/CareAfterDeathBereavementSupport.jsp
This represents the most up-to-date UK guidance on bereavement issues.
6. Leaflets for bereaved people.
The following is a list from the Irish Hospice Foundation. It is interesting to see one written in Polish and another on how to cope at Christmas (though that will not be needed for another year!)
http://www.hospice-foundation.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=124&Itemid=50
St Christopher’s has a wide range of leaflets available for patients, carers, families and bereaved people. There are six specifically on bereavement:
http://www.stchristophers.org.uk/patients/leaflets
7. I have come across a few items on the effect of losing a parent
in childhood in the last year. Here are the references;
BIANK NANCEE M WERNER-LIN ALLISON
Growing up with grief: Revisiting the death of a parent over the
life course
Omega 11 v63 no3 p271-290
FITZ JANE FINLAY ILORA
The burden of bereaved children in society. Paper delivered at
the Glasgow GAPC Conference, 2011
Wales Pall Care Strategy Impl Board 2011 22p
http://www.eapcnet.eu/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=5MdRLB--lc0%3D&tabid=752
PARSONS SAMANTHA CHILDHOOD WELLBEING RESEARCH CENTRE
Long-term impact of childhood bereavement: Preliminary analysis
of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70)
https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/CWRC-00081-2011
London: CWRC 2011
PEARCE CAROLINE
Girl, interrupted: An exploration into the experience of grief
following the death of a mother in young women's narratives
Mortality 11 v16 no1 p35-53
TRACEY ANNE
Perpetual loss and pervasive grief: Daughters speak about the
death of their mother in childhood
BereaveCare 11 v30 no3 p17-24
8. Marshall F
Losing a parent. 2nd edition
Sheldon Press 2011
There are not many books for adults when their parents die. The book has 10
chapters and the ones that stand out as being especially pertinent to this
particular bereavement are: You and your dying parent: The abandoned child -
Inheritance – new possessions, new ideas: You and your remaining parent:
Getting on with your life. The author provides a variety of case studies, thus
capturing a range of experiences with which bereaved adult children
can identify. It is written in an accessible style and her last paragraph points
out that “ the lifting of grief is yet another kind of loss – you lose touch
with the emotions of grief that were a powerful link with your dead mother
or father and it is at this point that you begin to realise the value of your
experience in grief as the painful tribute paid to love.”
9. Agnew, A et al
Bereavement assessment practice in hospice settings: challenges
for palliative care social workers
British Journal of Social Work 2011 41 p111-130
A national survey, conducted in 2007, examined bereavement practice in
10 Marie Curie hospices across the UK. All hospices offered a bereavement
service but there was little standardisation across their sites. The study
highlighted ethical issues centred on documentation, user participation and
consent and found staff training was variable across the ten hospices. Some
of the differences are highlighted in various figures and tables. The findings
facilitated the development of a post-bereavement service model that was
implemented across Marie Curie Hospice Care. Although there are umbrella
hospice bodies in the UK, Marie Curie is one of the few hospice providers that
has a number of sites and this of course aids standardisation and is one
advantage of a large multi-site service.
10. Finally , a chapter worth noting. This is in a book edited by David Oliviere, Barbara Monroe and Sheila Payne, Death dying and social differences 2nd edition (Oxford University Press 2011). It is by Orla Keegan and is titled Bereavement – a world of difference(p207-204). This chapter succinctly describes different perspectives on bereavement, especially emphasising the concept of disenfranchised grief, the huge discrepancies in the idea of a good death across the world and the dilemmas associated with how best to support bereaved people. It has an extensive, interesting bibliography.
On 15 Februrary 2012 the Bereavement Research Forum will host their AGM and there are two interesting lectures as part of this event –a talk on Inherited genetic conditions and the implications for end of life care and bereavement by Professor Alison Metcalfe and Across generations of family members affected by Huntington’s Chorea by Professor Heather Skirton. Full details at
http://www.brforum.org.uk/2012/agm2012flyer.htm
Denise Brady St Christopher's Hospice library. Email. d.brady@stchristohers.org.uk
Grief and bereavement in contemporary society. Bridging research and practice
Routledge 2011
This book has contributions from 60 eminent writers (both clinicians and researchers) on grief and bereavement from 10 countries around the world.
It is has 31 chapters and is divided into 6 main sections – current conceptualisations of the grief process, contexts of grieving, challenges in bereavement, specific populations, specialised treatment modalities, grief in a global perspective. If you have read widely on bereavement issues, you will recognise many of the authors. If you have not, you will be introduced to a wide variety of contemporary perspectives. I have dipped into a number of chapters and I was especially struck by the chapter on “The remedy is not working” – seeking just and culturally conscientious practices in bereavement by Valarie Molaison et al. It describes and comments on the issue of death and grieving in a case study of a young African-American youth in a poor inner city area in the United States. It was challenging, engaging and sad. One would like to know how the young man viewed his counselling many years on. Does he even remember it? – or will the experience be of any use to him sometime in his future?
2.Wimpenny P, Costello J (eds)
Grief loss and bereavement. Evidence and practice for health and social care practitioners.
Routledge 2012
This book also has a broad remit though it is aimed at practitioners to a greater extent and most of the contributors are working in Scotland, either as practitioners or as researchers. It has sixteen chapters and is divided into 3 parts – 1) bereavement across the life span 2) contexts of bereavement and 3) education interventions and organisation of bereavement care. The context of bereavement section covers topics such as bereavement in primary care, perinatal bereavement, bereavement in care homes and bereavement and occupational health. There is an interesting array of figures, tables and boxes (26 in all) that summarise key concepts in current thinking on bereavement issues. It is a book aimed at specialists in bereavement work but also at health and social care professionals who need to further their understanding of bereavement issues in the context of their overall work. A poem by a poet based in Scotland called The dead is on the introductory page and it can be viewed on the poet’s website:
http://www.pauline-prior-pitt.com/poems.html
3.Wicks Robert J
The resilient clinician
Oxford University Press 2008
This is not newly published, nor is it specifically on bereavement. However, it is for counsellors and any professional involved in working closely with people who need help with emotional problems. It is written by a psychotherapist and the essence of the book is about how clinicians care for and know themselves so that they can continue to have the “space” to offer to others. It enables one to assess the extent to which one is currently reacting to stress in dealing with one’s clients. The first three chapters provide some idea of the approach: Sensing the dangers - chronic and acute secondary stress: Enhancing resiliency - strengthening one’s own self-care protocol: Replenishing the self-solitude, silence and mindfulness. The author places great emphasis on daily debriefing and concludes with some questions to aid reflection.
I especially liked one quote, reputedly from the Russian playwright (and doctor) Anton Chechov “Any idiot can face a crisis – it’s the day to day living that wears you out”.
4. Bereavement Care. A recent issue focussed on evaluation of
bereavement services – below are key references from this issue
(2011 volume 30 no1)
SCHUT HENK STROEBE MARGARET
Challenges in evaluating adult bereavement services p5-9
ROLLS LIZ
Challenges in evaluating childhood bereavement services p10-15
NEWSOM C
Practitioners and researchers working together in an intervention
efficacy study: A fine example of synergy p16-20
ROBERTS AMANDA MCGILLOWAY SINEAD
Methodological and ethical aspects of evaluation research in
bereavement: A reflection p21-28
TRICKEY DAVID NUGUS DANNY
Evaluation of a therapeutic residential intervention for
traumatically bereaved children and young people p29-36
MCGUINESS BREFFNI FINUCANE NIAMH
Evaluating a creative arts bereavement support intervention:
innovation and rigour p37-42
Colin Murray Parkes, editor, has received (January 2012) the Sternberg Active Life Award from the Times newspaper.
5. The last posting referred to a literature review on bereavement published by the Department of Health in the UK. This was followed up by draft quality markers on spiritual and bereavement care
http://www.endoflifecareforadults.nhs.uk/assets/downloads/Draft_Spiritual_Support_and_Bereavement_Care_Quality_Markers.pdf
In November, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence in the UK published End of Life Care quality markers and there is a section on bereavement which refers to the above documents:
http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qualitystandards/endoflifecare/CareAfterDeathBereavementSupport.jsp
This represents the most up-to-date UK guidance on bereavement issues.
6. Leaflets for bereaved people.
The following is a list from the Irish Hospice Foundation. It is interesting to see one written in Polish and another on how to cope at Christmas (though that will not be needed for another year!)
http://www.hospice-foundation.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=124&Itemid=50
St Christopher’s has a wide range of leaflets available for patients, carers, families and bereaved people. There are six specifically on bereavement:
http://www.stchristophers.org.uk/patients/leaflets
7. I have come across a few items on the effect of losing a parent
in childhood in the last year. Here are the references;
BIANK NANCEE M WERNER-LIN ALLISON
Growing up with grief: Revisiting the death of a parent over the
life course
Omega 11 v63 no3 p271-290
FITZ JANE FINLAY ILORA
The burden of bereaved children in society. Paper delivered at
the Glasgow GAPC Conference, 2011
Wales Pall Care Strategy Impl Board 2011 22p
http://www.eapcnet.eu/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=5MdRLB--lc0%3D&tabid=752
PARSONS SAMANTHA CHILDHOOD WELLBEING RESEARCH CENTRE
Long-term impact of childhood bereavement: Preliminary analysis
of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70)
https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/CWRC-00081-2011
London: CWRC 2011
PEARCE CAROLINE
Girl, interrupted: An exploration into the experience of grief
following the death of a mother in young women's narratives
Mortality 11 v16 no1 p35-53
TRACEY ANNE
Perpetual loss and pervasive grief: Daughters speak about the
death of their mother in childhood
BereaveCare 11 v30 no3 p17-24
8. Marshall F
Losing a parent. 2nd edition
Sheldon Press 2011
There are not many books for adults when their parents die. The book has 10
chapters and the ones that stand out as being especially pertinent to this
particular bereavement are: You and your dying parent: The abandoned child -
Inheritance – new possessions, new ideas: You and your remaining parent:
Getting on with your life. The author provides a variety of case studies, thus
capturing a range of experiences with which bereaved adult children
can identify. It is written in an accessible style and her last paragraph points
out that “ the lifting of grief is yet another kind of loss – you lose touch
with the emotions of grief that were a powerful link with your dead mother
or father and it is at this point that you begin to realise the value of your
experience in grief as the painful tribute paid to love.”
9. Agnew, A et al
Bereavement assessment practice in hospice settings: challenges
for palliative care social workers
British Journal of Social Work 2011 41 p111-130
A national survey, conducted in 2007, examined bereavement practice in
10 Marie Curie hospices across the UK. All hospices offered a bereavement
service but there was little standardisation across their sites. The study
highlighted ethical issues centred on documentation, user participation and
consent and found staff training was variable across the ten hospices. Some
of the differences are highlighted in various figures and tables. The findings
facilitated the development of a post-bereavement service model that was
implemented across Marie Curie Hospice Care. Although there are umbrella
hospice bodies in the UK, Marie Curie is one of the few hospice providers that
has a number of sites and this of course aids standardisation and is one
advantage of a large multi-site service.
10. Finally , a chapter worth noting. This is in a book edited by David Oliviere, Barbara Monroe and Sheila Payne, Death dying and social differences 2nd edition (Oxford University Press 2011). It is by Orla Keegan and is titled Bereavement – a world of difference(p207-204). This chapter succinctly describes different perspectives on bereavement, especially emphasising the concept of disenfranchised grief, the huge discrepancies in the idea of a good death across the world and the dilemmas associated with how best to support bereaved people. It has an extensive, interesting bibliography.
On 15 Februrary 2012 the Bereavement Research Forum will host their AGM and there are two interesting lectures as part of this event –a talk on Inherited genetic conditions and the implications for end of life care and bereavement by Professor Alison Metcalfe and Across generations of family members affected by Huntington’s Chorea by Professor Heather Skirton. Full details at
http://www.brforum.org.uk/2012/agm2012flyer.htm
Denise Brady St Christopher's Hospice library. Email. d.brady@stchristohers.org.uk
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
4 online documents and 3 books
Arthur A et al.
Bereavement care services: a synthesis of the literature
Dept of Health 2011
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_123810.pdf
This is a very useful report that builds on the work of Wimpenny (blog April 2007). It brings together a range of research-based evidence that underpins existing provision and future service developments in England. It provides an overall synthesis of the major literature and categories this under four headings a) need for service provision b)current provision c)effectiveness of bereavement care interventions and services d)cost effectiveness. It examines service provision in terms of levels of intervention similar to NICE guidelines
It provides useful summaries of key literature and concludes with a number of recommendations for future practise and research.
Scottish Government Health Directorate.
Shaping bereavement care.
Scottish Government 2010
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/327965/0105922.pdf
This document was for consultation and its aim is principally to suggest policy changes that would enable quality care prior to death, at the time of death and immediately post-death for all dying people and their relatives. It sits a complementary doc
Shaping bereavement care – consultations responses
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/12/22154532/0
44 responses were received using a questionnaire. There are an interesting array of organisations that responded to the consultation and the current developments involve employing a coordinator, setting up some short –term projects and having a major conference following these initiatives – sometime towards the end of 2011.
http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/mels/CEL2011_09.pdf
(24th February 2011)
Relf M, Machin L, Archer N
A study into implementing “Guidance for bereavement needs assessment in palliative care”.
Help the Hospices 2010
http://www.helpthehospices.org.uk/hweb/get_Document.aspx?id=5265
This involved action research involving 3 British hospices and approximately 100 staff in those hospices and dealt with their responses to implementing bereavement needs assessment (BNA). The findings suggest that its implementation would a) have significant implications for organisations in terms of new procedures and protocols b)professional practitioners are challenged by the need to adopt and integrate new ways of thinking into practice. The original guidance is mentioned in May 2008 of this blog –and a book review provided lively debate between the reviewer and the authors. See below
Payne M. Book review. Guidance for bereavement needs assessment in palliative care. Bereavement Care 2008 v27 no3 p60
Relf M, Archer N, Machin L, Payne M. Book review discussion on "Guidance for bereavement needs assessment in palliative care". Bereavement Care 2009 v28 no1 p46-49
Graves Dodie
Talking with bereaved people. An approach for structured and sensitive communication.
Jessica Kingsley 2010
The author identifies six elements for establishing good communication with bereaved people. – a story, a relationship, a life to celebrate, a legacy for those left behind, a strategy for coping and a journey to undertake. Another chapter is about the exploration of difficult issues. A colleague has used this model in teaching a multidisciplinary group of palliative care professionals and has found it works well as an introduction to bereavement counselling. The author works at an English hospice.
Monroe B, Kraus F
Brief interventions with bereaved children.2nd edition
Oxford University Press 2010
Edited and partly written by St Christopher’s Hospice staff, this book provides a variety of interventions used by health professionals to help bereaved children. Some chapters provide an approach to dealing with these issues – other chapters focus on particular groups of children eg children with learning disablilities, very young children.
(Available from St Christopher’s Hospice bookshop. £29.95 plus postage d.brady@stchristophers.org.uk)
Buckle JL Fleming S
Parenting after the death fo a child. A practitioner’s guide
Routledge 2011
This Canadian study provides a detailed account of qualitative research with 10 bereaved parents, including 2 couples. Although the research as an in-depth evaluation of bereaved mothers and fathers separately, the impact of one spouse on another is accounted for in many of the themes. While is it is primarily a description of research, many verbatim extracts from the interviews are provided so it is a book that could be useful not only to practitioners but also to bereaved siblings and parents.
Bereavement care services: a synthesis of the literature
Dept of Health 2011
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_123810.pdf
This is a very useful report that builds on the work of Wimpenny (blog April 2007). It brings together a range of research-based evidence that underpins existing provision and future service developments in England. It provides an overall synthesis of the major literature and categories this under four headings a) need for service provision b)current provision c)effectiveness of bereavement care interventions and services d)cost effectiveness. It examines service provision in terms of levels of intervention similar to NICE guidelines
It provides useful summaries of key literature and concludes with a number of recommendations for future practise and research.
Scottish Government Health Directorate.
Shaping bereavement care.
Scottish Government 2010
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/327965/0105922.pdf
This document was for consultation and its aim is principally to suggest policy changes that would enable quality care prior to death, at the time of death and immediately post-death for all dying people and their relatives. It sits a complementary doc
Shaping bereavement care – consultations responses
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/12/22154532/0
44 responses were received using a questionnaire. There are an interesting array of organisations that responded to the consultation and the current developments involve employing a coordinator, setting up some short –term projects and having a major conference following these initiatives – sometime towards the end of 2011.
http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/mels/CEL2011_09.pdf
(24th February 2011)
Relf M, Machin L, Archer N
A study into implementing “Guidance for bereavement needs assessment in palliative care”.
Help the Hospices 2010
http://www.helpthehospices.org.uk/hweb/get_Document.aspx?id=5265
This involved action research involving 3 British hospices and approximately 100 staff in those hospices and dealt with their responses to implementing bereavement needs assessment (BNA). The findings suggest that its implementation would a) have significant implications for organisations in terms of new procedures and protocols b)professional practitioners are challenged by the need to adopt and integrate new ways of thinking into practice. The original guidance is mentioned in May 2008 of this blog –and a book review provided lively debate between the reviewer and the authors. See below
Payne M. Book review. Guidance for bereavement needs assessment in palliative care. Bereavement Care 2008 v27 no3 p60
Relf M, Archer N, Machin L, Payne M. Book review discussion on "Guidance for bereavement needs assessment in palliative care". Bereavement Care 2009 v28 no1 p46-49
Graves Dodie
Talking with bereaved people. An approach for structured and sensitive communication.
Jessica Kingsley 2010
The author identifies six elements for establishing good communication with bereaved people. – a story, a relationship, a life to celebrate, a legacy for those left behind, a strategy for coping and a journey to undertake. Another chapter is about the exploration of difficult issues. A colleague has used this model in teaching a multidisciplinary group of palliative care professionals and has found it works well as an introduction to bereavement counselling. The author works at an English hospice.
Monroe B, Kraus F
Brief interventions with bereaved children.2nd edition
Oxford University Press 2010
Edited and partly written by St Christopher’s Hospice staff, this book provides a variety of interventions used by health professionals to help bereaved children. Some chapters provide an approach to dealing with these issues – other chapters focus on particular groups of children eg children with learning disablilities, very young children.
(Available from St Christopher’s Hospice bookshop. £29.95 plus postage d.brady@stchristophers.org.uk)
Buckle JL Fleming S
Parenting after the death fo a child. A practitioner’s guide
Routledge 2011
This Canadian study provides a detailed account of qualitative research with 10 bereaved parents, including 2 couples. Although the research as an in-depth evaluation of bereaved mothers and fathers separately, the impact of one spouse on another is accounted for in many of the themes. While is it is primarily a description of research, many verbatim extracts from the interviews are provided so it is a book that could be useful not only to practitioners but also to bereaved siblings and parents.
Friday, July 30, 2010
CONFERENCES
I have examined the abstracts of 3 conferences in the past year that had a focus either on death and dying or on palliative care. I have found what seem to be the most relevant abstracts on bereavement issues. These are all short but provide some idea of research that may not yet be written up as articles. If you would like to read any of the abstracts contact me. Email: d.brady@stchristophers.org.uk or Phone 0044 20 8768 4660
1. European Association of Palliative Care Congress. 6th Research Congress Glasgow. June 2010
Palliative Medicine 2010 v24 no 4 Supplement.
Higginson IJ
Research methodology in bereavement: practical and scientific issues in conducting research in bereavement S18
Oyebode JR, Hassein H, Suhail, K, Aamodt-Leeper G
Influences of religion and culture on continuing bonds after bereavement
(study based in both England and Pakistan) S46
Fitz J, Finlay IG
The burden of bereaved children in society S95
Ellis JE, Lloyd-Williams M,
Supporting parentally bereaved children and their families: findings from a narrative study S142
Grenklo B et al
Did you talk about what was important with your dying parent? Feelings of guilt in bereaved teenage daughters S142-143
2. Abstracts of the 8th Palliative Care Congress Bournemouth March 2010
Palliative Medicine v24 no2 p202-252
Relf M, Machin, L, Archer N, Smale U, Rushton D.
Service development; experiences of implementing the guidance for bereavement needs assessment p248
Poultney J, Wiseman F, Waterhouse E, Faull C.
Why do bereaved carers agree to be involved in medical student education? p211
Relf M, Holly D, Diamond H, Llewelyn S, Bruce C
Aspects of bereavement support perceived as helpful by clients and their support workers p206.
3.9th International conference on death dying and disposal 9-12 September 2009Mortality v14 Supplement Sept 20009.
The abstracts in the journal are in alphabetical order by surname of first author.
Michael Ashby (Royal Hobart Hospital and University of Tasmania)
A snapshot of English grief and bereavement behaviour seen through two short scenes, 40 years apart, from the BBC radio series ‘The Archers’
George E. Dickinson and Heath C. Hoffmann (College of Charleston)
Roadside memorial policies in the United States: a place of identity
for a highway fatality
Vanessa Fredericks (Macquarie University)
Politics and mourning: the subject on trial
Christina Marsden Gillis (University of California, Berkeley)
Seeing and feeling differently: place, art and consolation
Tim Hutchings (Durham University)
Wiring death: dying, grieving and remembering on the internet
Maggie Jackson (University of Teesside)
My father’s hand: an exploration of memory and identity
Aliki Karapliagou (University of Bath)
Bereavement in trauma diasporas
Michele Knight (University of Sydney)
From grief’s Cavern come the voices of the voiceless: bereavement, grief and post-death contact
Vanessa Lockyer-Stevens (Bournemouth University)
Nurse interaction with families following sudden death of their child in
intensive care: an interpretive approach
Samantha Murphy (University of Westminster)
Stillbirth and gender: supporting the social construction of grief
Colin Murray Parkes (St. Christopher’s Hospice, London)
Love and loss: the roots of grief and its complications
Anna Petersson (Lund University)
Individual expression and grief work
Pamela Roberts, Talina Villao, Hortencia Romero and Rozana Ceballos
(California State University, Long Beach)
Travelling tributes: car memorials in Southern California
Liz Rolls (Lancaster University)
Emotional work within UK childhood bereavement services
Alice Scarlin (Durham University)
Harry Potter: death, grief and identity
Caroline Simone (University of Derby)
The liminality of loss: bridging the gap
Margaret Souza (Empire State College)
Bereavement: emotional component of changed roles
Josefine Speyer and Mary Murray
(Natural Death Centre; Massey University)
Grace in grieving: psycho-spiritual transformation through bereavement
M. Sque*, T. Long*, J. Macleod-Clark* and S. Payne{
(*University of Southampton; {Lancaster University)
Gift of life or sacrifice: is organ donation a blessing or burden for bereaved families
Darach Turley and Stephanie O’Donohoe
(Dublin City University; University of Edinburgh)
The loss adjuster: the year of magical thinking and the role of consumption
in meaning reconstruction
Christine Valentine (University of Bath)
Emotion, identity and the good death in the narratives of bereaved Japanese people
1. European Association of Palliative Care Congress. 6th Research Congress Glasgow. June 2010
Palliative Medicine 2010 v24 no 4 Supplement.
Higginson IJ
Research methodology in bereavement: practical and scientific issues in conducting research in bereavement S18
Oyebode JR, Hassein H, Suhail, K, Aamodt-Leeper G
Influences of religion and culture on continuing bonds after bereavement
(study based in both England and Pakistan) S46
Fitz J, Finlay IG
The burden of bereaved children in society S95
Ellis JE, Lloyd-Williams M,
Supporting parentally bereaved children and their families: findings from a narrative study S142
Grenklo B et al
Did you talk about what was important with your dying parent? Feelings of guilt in bereaved teenage daughters S142-143
2. Abstracts of the 8th Palliative Care Congress Bournemouth March 2010
Palliative Medicine v24 no2 p202-252
Relf M, Machin, L, Archer N, Smale U, Rushton D.
Service development; experiences of implementing the guidance for bereavement needs assessment p248
Poultney J, Wiseman F, Waterhouse E, Faull C.
Why do bereaved carers agree to be involved in medical student education? p211
Relf M, Holly D, Diamond H, Llewelyn S, Bruce C
Aspects of bereavement support perceived as helpful by clients and their support workers p206.
3.9th International conference on death dying and disposal 9-12 September 2009Mortality v14 Supplement Sept 20009.
The abstracts in the journal are in alphabetical order by surname of first author.
Michael Ashby (Royal Hobart Hospital and University of Tasmania)
A snapshot of English grief and bereavement behaviour seen through two short scenes, 40 years apart, from the BBC radio series ‘The Archers’
George E. Dickinson and Heath C. Hoffmann (College of Charleston)
Roadside memorial policies in the United States: a place of identity
for a highway fatality
Vanessa Fredericks (Macquarie University)
Politics and mourning: the subject on trial
Christina Marsden Gillis (University of California, Berkeley)
Seeing and feeling differently: place, art and consolation
Tim Hutchings (Durham University)
Wiring death: dying, grieving and remembering on the internet
Maggie Jackson (University of Teesside)
My father’s hand: an exploration of memory and identity
Aliki Karapliagou (University of Bath)
Bereavement in trauma diasporas
Michele Knight (University of Sydney)
From grief’s Cavern come the voices of the voiceless: bereavement, grief and post-death contact
Vanessa Lockyer-Stevens (Bournemouth University)
Nurse interaction with families following sudden death of their child in
intensive care: an interpretive approach
Samantha Murphy (University of Westminster)
Stillbirth and gender: supporting the social construction of grief
Colin Murray Parkes (St. Christopher’s Hospice, London)
Love and loss: the roots of grief and its complications
Anna Petersson (Lund University)
Individual expression and grief work
Pamela Roberts, Talina Villao, Hortencia Romero and Rozana Ceballos
(California State University, Long Beach)
Travelling tributes: car memorials in Southern California
Liz Rolls (Lancaster University)
Emotional work within UK childhood bereavement services
Alice Scarlin (Durham University)
Harry Potter: death, grief and identity
Caroline Simone (University of Derby)
The liminality of loss: bridging the gap
Margaret Souza (Empire State College)
Bereavement: emotional component of changed roles
Josefine Speyer and Mary Murray
(Natural Death Centre; Massey University)
Grace in grieving: psycho-spiritual transformation through bereavement
M. Sque*, T. Long*, J. Macleod-Clark* and S. Payne{
(*University of Southampton; {Lancaster University)
Gift of life or sacrifice: is organ donation a blessing or burden for bereaved families
Darach Turley and Stephanie O’Donohoe
(Dublin City University; University of Edinburgh)
The loss adjuster: the year of magical thinking and the role of consumption
in meaning reconstruction
Christine Valentine (University of Bath)
Emotion, identity and the good death in the narratives of bereaved Japanese people
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The 4th editions of two classic texts
Parkes Colin Murray, Prigerson Holly G
Bereavement. Studies of grief in adult life. 4th edition
Routledge 2010.
In this book the author has broadened the content and involved a second author who is an expert on complicated grief. It is a text for health professionals but also for bereaved people.
Contents include:
Bowlby, Foreword to the First Edition. Lifton, Foreword to the Fourth Edition. Acknowledgements. Introduction. The Cost of Commitment. The Broken Heart. Trauma. Attachment and Loss. Mitigation. Anger and Guilt. Changing the Assumptive World. Complicated Grief. Determinants of Grief I: Kinship, Gender and Age. Determinants of Grief II: Mode of Death. Determinants of Grief III: Personal Vulnerability. Determinants of Grief IV: Social, Religious and Cultural Influences. Helping the Bereaved I: Bereavement Support – History and Evaluation. Helping the Bereaved II: Types of Help for Types of Problem. Helping the Bereaved III: Sources of Help. Reactions to Other Types of Loss. Disasters. Appendices. Organisation in the UK and USA Offering Help to Bereaved People. Recommended Further Reading. References
Worden William J.
Grief Counselling and grief therapy. A handbook for the mental health practitioner. 4th edition 2010
The fourth edition of this textbook has just been published and Worden continues to add information on new theories of grief and bereavement.
Contents include:
Attachment, Loss, and the Experience of Grief. Understanding the Mourning Process. The Mourning Process: Mediators of Mourning. Grief Counselling: Facilitating Uncomplicated Grief. Abnormal Grief Reactions: Complicated Mourning. Grief Therapy: Resolving Complicated Mourning. Grieving Special Types of Losses. Grief and Family Systems. The Counsellor's Own Grief. Training for Grief Counselling
Bereavement. Studies of grief in adult life. 4th edition
Routledge 2010.
In this book the author has broadened the content and involved a second author who is an expert on complicated grief. It is a text for health professionals but also for bereaved people.
Contents include:
Bowlby, Foreword to the First Edition. Lifton, Foreword to the Fourth Edition. Acknowledgements. Introduction. The Cost of Commitment. The Broken Heart. Trauma. Attachment and Loss. Mitigation. Anger and Guilt. Changing the Assumptive World. Complicated Grief. Determinants of Grief I: Kinship, Gender and Age. Determinants of Grief II: Mode of Death. Determinants of Grief III: Personal Vulnerability. Determinants of Grief IV: Social, Religious and Cultural Influences. Helping the Bereaved I: Bereavement Support – History and Evaluation. Helping the Bereaved II: Types of Help for Types of Problem. Helping the Bereaved III: Sources of Help. Reactions to Other Types of Loss. Disasters. Appendices. Organisation in the UK and USA Offering Help to Bereaved People. Recommended Further Reading. References
Worden William J.
Grief Counselling and grief therapy. A handbook for the mental health practitioner. 4th edition 2010
The fourth edition of this textbook has just been published and Worden continues to add information on new theories of grief and bereavement.
Contents include:
Attachment, Loss, and the Experience of Grief. Understanding the Mourning Process. The Mourning Process: Mediators of Mourning. Grief Counselling: Facilitating Uncomplicated Grief. Abnormal Grief Reactions: Complicated Mourning. Grief Therapy: Resolving Complicated Mourning. Grieving Special Types of Losses. Grief and Family Systems. The Counsellor's Own Grief. Training for Grief Counselling
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Report on a conference - ongoing projects in bereavement care in
hospices in the UK
Help the Hospices (a national organisation for hospice care in the UK) recently held their biennial conference in Harrogate. Two aspects of the conference are worth bringing to your attention.
Firstly:
There was a session on organisational challenges for today and tomorrow in delivering bereavement care. This was by Una Smale, Nikki Archer and Sharon Cornford.
Linda Machin delivered a presentation on service development: experiences of taking the “guidance for bereavement needs assessment” into practice.
Patsy Way delivered a talk on working with a young child in Candle, the child bereavement service at St Christopher’s Hospice.
These presentations are available by keying in the authors’ surname on the query box on this page:
http://www.helpthehospices.org.uk/our-services/running-your-hospice/education-training/2009conference/programme/
Secondly:
The following presentations were in poster form:
Promoting excellence in the training of bereavement volunteers
Hilary Minter, Hartlepool and District Hospice, Hartlepool
Ann French, University of Teeside, Middlesborough
Effective positive change with bereaved service users in a palliative care setting
Audrey Agnew, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Belfast
Joe Duffy, Department of Sociology, Queen’s University Belfast
COSTAL – adult group therapy programme following bereavement
Rebekah Clitherow, Susan Salt. Trinity Hospice and Palliative Care Services, Blackpool
Children and young people’s bereavement link project
Rebekah Clitherow, Susan Salt. Trinity Hospice and Palliative Care Services, Blackpool
Living with grief – a series of meetings for people who have been bereaved
Smale Una, Simon Spence, Highland Hospice, Inverness.
The conference took place in Novemberr 2009 at Harrogate Conference Centre. It is interesting to see some documentation on the variety of projects taking place in the UK in bereavement care.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
6 items - 6 months!
Bereavement Care. The journal
This journal is now published by Taylor and Francis. It still retains its links with CRUSE. It continues to be reasonably priced and its editor, Colin Murrary Parkes, provides continuity. However, for the fist time it is now also possible to have an online subscription.
http://www.crusebereavementcare.org.uk/ber_care.htm
Macmillan Cancer Support
There are two booklets available from Macmillan Cancer Support for care homes that would like to provide some training for their staff in bereavement care. They can either be ordered in print form or are available for download free of charge:
http://be.macmillan.org.uk/be/s-206-learning-resources-and-courses.aspx
If there is anything I can do….
Doughty Caroline
White Ladder Press 2007
This is written for those who would like to help someone who has been recently bereaved. It is particularly aimed at young parents with children and provides many concrete suggestions on how one might be able to them. The author is herself an expert as she has had to live through this experience and she has done so with the help of many people who have also been widowed. She met many of them through the WAY foundation, a support group for people widowed under 50. I think this is a refreshing book as it closely involves both the bereaved and those who have helped them.
http://www.wayfoundation.org.uk/index.htm
National Council for Palliative Care
National survey of patient activity data for specialist palliative care services.
MDS full report for the year 2007-2008.
NCPC (Dec) 2008
This is an annual publication by the National Council for Palliative Care and collates information on palliative care services in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
There is a section in this document on bereavement services. It states that 278 bereavement services were listed in the Hospice Directory in this area in 2008. Data was received from 171 services. The type of contact was given by 56% services and 70% of contacts were either in the home, or as individual counselling. The main staff member for each of the contacts was given by half of all services and this showed that nearly half of all contacts were with a social worker or counsellor, 5% with a CNS and a third with a volunteer. A table on the services is also provided. This shows the actual and the mean number of clients seen, the number of contacts, contacts per client, the contact type, the staff type for each contact (eg social worker, clinical nurse specialist or volunteer) and the number of telephone calls that had been noted.
Financial Implications of Death of a Partner
by Corden, A., Hirst, M. and Nice, K.
Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, 2008
This research report investigates the economic and financial consequences of bereavement for a surviving spouse or partner and their household, using a mixed methods, prospective design. The study involves a quantitative element based on longitudinal analysis of the British Household Panel Survey, and a qualitative element comprising personal interviews with people at different life stages whose partner has died.
http://php.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/pubs/1148/
Evaluation of a bereavement evening service in a London hospice
Heal, Rosanna, Hartley Nigel.
Abstracts of the 11th Congress of the EAPC, Vienna 2009. p62.
Bereaved relatives are invited by a London hospice to attend an evening event about 3 months after the death of a patient. This consists of a) a talk by a member of staff at the hospice on common responses to bereavement b) group discussion.
The events take place each month and all those who attended the meetings over a 5 months period (n=105) and all those who had been invited to the meetings but did not attend (n=436) were asked to complete a questionnaire.
Overall the bereavement evenings were valued by respondents who participated and even those who did not attend appreciated being invited, seeing it as further evidence of the care extended to them by the hospice.
(The book by Caroline Doughty is available from the bookshop at St Christopher’s Hospice and the full report of the MDS data is in the library at St Christopher’s Hospice. A fuller abstract by Rosanna Heal is also available from the library. Contact me if you would like further details or have any other literature queries regarding bereavement. d.brady@stchristophers.org.uk or ph: 020 8768 4660)
This journal is now published by Taylor and Francis. It still retains its links with CRUSE. It continues to be reasonably priced and its editor, Colin Murrary Parkes, provides continuity. However, for the fist time it is now also possible to have an online subscription.
http://www.crusebereavementcare.org.uk/ber_care.htm
Macmillan Cancer Support
There are two booklets available from Macmillan Cancer Support for care homes that would like to provide some training for their staff in bereavement care. They can either be ordered in print form or are available for download free of charge:
http://be.macmillan.org.uk/be/s-206-learning-resources-and-courses.aspx
If there is anything I can do….
Doughty Caroline
White Ladder Press 2007
This is written for those who would like to help someone who has been recently bereaved. It is particularly aimed at young parents with children and provides many concrete suggestions on how one might be able to them. The author is herself an expert as she has had to live through this experience and she has done so with the help of many people who have also been widowed. She met many of them through the WAY foundation, a support group for people widowed under 50. I think this is a refreshing book as it closely involves both the bereaved and those who have helped them.
http://www.wayfoundation.org.uk/index.htm
National Council for Palliative Care
National survey of patient activity data for specialist palliative care services.
MDS full report for the year 2007-2008.
NCPC (Dec) 2008
This is an annual publication by the National Council for Palliative Care and collates information on palliative care services in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
There is a section in this document on bereavement services. It states that 278 bereavement services were listed in the Hospice Directory in this area in 2008. Data was received from 171 services. The type of contact was given by 56% services and 70% of contacts were either in the home, or as individual counselling. The main staff member for each of the contacts was given by half of all services and this showed that nearly half of all contacts were with a social worker or counsellor, 5% with a CNS and a third with a volunteer. A table on the services is also provided. This shows the actual and the mean number of clients seen, the number of contacts, contacts per client, the contact type, the staff type for each contact (eg social worker, clinical nurse specialist or volunteer) and the number of telephone calls that had been noted.
Financial Implications of Death of a Partner
by Corden, A., Hirst, M. and Nice, K.
Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, 2008
This research report investigates the economic and financial consequences of bereavement for a surviving spouse or partner and their household, using a mixed methods, prospective design. The study involves a quantitative element based on longitudinal analysis of the British Household Panel Survey, and a qualitative element comprising personal interviews with people at different life stages whose partner has died.
http://php.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/pubs/1148/
Evaluation of a bereavement evening service in a London hospice
Heal, Rosanna, Hartley Nigel.
Abstracts of the 11th Congress of the EAPC, Vienna 2009. p62.
Bereaved relatives are invited by a London hospice to attend an evening event about 3 months after the death of a patient. This consists of a) a talk by a member of staff at the hospice on common responses to bereavement b) group discussion.
The events take place each month and all those who attended the meetings over a 5 months period (n=105) and all those who had been invited to the meetings but did not attend (n=436) were asked to complete a questionnaire.
Overall the bereavement evenings were valued by respondents who participated and even those who did not attend appreciated being invited, seeing it as further evidence of the care extended to them by the hospice.
(The book by Caroline Doughty is available from the bookshop at St Christopher’s Hospice and the full report of the MDS data is in the library at St Christopher’s Hospice. A fuller abstract by Rosanna Heal is also available from the library. Contact me if you would like further details or have any other literature queries regarding bereavement. d.brady@stchristophers.org.uk or ph: 020 8768 4660)
