This presentation is intended for Health and Social Care professionals

Jenny Hall Bereavement Service Co-ordinator

Loss & Bereavement

Learning Objectives

• Different perspective

• Increased understanding

• Greater confidence

What is bereavement?

Bereavement

This is the state of being robbed of a close and meaningful relationship, health status or possession…

What is loss?

• Not only the loss of a person

• Meaning of thing determines the impact

• Bereavement = having suffered a loss

• Many different types of losses

• Losses can provoke a grief reaction

Grief….

…is a universal experience

How does grief feel?• Fear and/or anxiety

• Guilt

• Confusion

• Loss of confidence/sense of identity

• Grief Bursts

Grief

…is the emotional response to that loss

• Denial

• Anger

• Bargaining

• Depression

• Acceptance

Kubler Ross (1969)

Stages of griefStages of grief

Grief is a process which is

expressed in different

ways and at different

times, and consists of a

number of intertwined

processes: physical,

psychological, emotional,

spiritual, social and

cultural.

Summary

• Grief isn’t just emotional

• Physical feelings are common

• Anger is common and often unexpected

• Social and practical impacts too

Mourning

…is an outward expression of grief that has

social and cultural components

Why Mourning Rituals Matter

•

• Marker in time

• Provide a positive focus

• Restore feeling of control

• Sense of meaning

• Chance to say goodbye

• Many bereaved want to talk to others who knew the dead person

• Talking and expressing feelings is helpful

• The purpose of grief is not to move on without the dead but to find a secure place for them

• For a secure place, the image of the dead needs to be shared by others

• Hope

• Denial

• Humour

• Practicalities

• Funeral arrangements

Pre-bereavement

Talking About Death and Dying

Why can it be difficult to be with bereaved people?

&

What are the particular challenges you experience?

Challenges

• Reminds us of personal

losses

• May raise unresolved

issues for us

• Makes us reflect on our

own mortality

• We are afraid of their

reaction(s)

• We struggle to know

what to say

What Can I Say/Do?

• Self-reflect - know your own feelings

• Normalise their grief reactions

• Don’t take it personally

• Be there for them

• Listen

• Talk about the deceased

R.E.G

•Respect

•Empathy

•Genuineness

Any Questions?

Your feedback allows us to offer free EOL education

Turn your phone or iPad camera on and hold it up towards this screen. Hover over the QR code above.

Select the ‘open forms’ option that should appear on your phone screen, complete the form and submit.

Thank youCode valid Sept 2021 – Mar 2022