Bereavement and bereavement care; consultation and mapping of practice (final Report) [Report]

Looking for information on bereavement care, other than reading material; in professional or academic journals can be a daunting task. A search of; the internet provides a significant 1,116,403 hits, which range from; general information, through bereavement services (funeral directors,; counselling, local authorities etc) to individuals talking about their loss.; This is perhaps indicative of the extent to which death and the subsequent; bereavement are part of our lives, despite an implicit tendency to hide; death, dying and bereavement (Aries 1983). In addition reports related; to bereavement appear regularly in the media, the most recent focused on; the provision of memorials on hills and mountains and at roadsides; following road traffic accidents (Guardian Unlimited 2006).; Whilst it is therefore possible for individuals to get news, information and; advice about bereavement in significant quantities, irrespective of; appropriateness, it appears that dealing with death, dying and; bereavement, particularly within health and social care is increasingly; challenging. This in some way may be due, in the UK, to the organ and; tissue retention scandals (Kennedy 2001, Redfern et al. 2001). However,; engagement and interest in bereavement and bereavement care extends; beyond this as it is a universal experience that may impact on health and; well-being (Parkes 2001) and as such demands the attention of those; working in health and social care. Therefore understanding and; developing bereavement services through policy and practice could, it; may be argued, have significant benefit. However, how to achieve this,; and which aspects to develop are not clear as there is a plethora of; perspectives and services, some of which may be competing.; This research sought to engage the perspectives of health and social care; practitioners in statutory and voluntary sectors (including education; settings), through a consultation and mapping process which drew on the; literature review previously undertaken (Wimpenny et al. 2006). The; literature review could not capture practitioners’ views of bereavement; and bereavement care, and what factors may be influencing their practice.; Indeed practitioners and others who are working with the bereaved may; 2; view evidence, such as the literature review, as not being the ‘real world’; (Bridging Working Group 2005). Hence the need to ensure their; perspective is checked out and incorporated into work which may inform; future evidence-based policy and practice. It may also be the case that; practitioners who work with the bereaved are located between the; academic perspective (which might dominate a literature review) and the; bereaved themselves (McLaren 1998) and therefore have a unique insight; into bereavement care.