BeCOVID
Supporting people bereaved during COVID-19: a mixed-methods study of bereaved people’s experiences, and the bereavement services supporting them.
This study opened in September 2020 and ended in February 2023.
Summary
COVID-19 impacted the grief experiences of people bereaved during the pandemic, and also affected the bereavement services that supported them.
This mixed-methods study investigates the experiences and needs of bereaved people and bereavement services in three work packages (WPs):
- WP1 – A UK survey at three time points: baseline, seven months, and 13 months post-death. Recruitment will be via social media, organisations representing minority ethnic groups, and bereavement organisations. Questions will investigate the impact of end-of-life and post-death experiences during COVID-19 and subsequent access to, needs for and experiences of bereavement support. Validated measures will assess grief and coping response, social support, prolonged grief disorder (PGD) and quality of life (QoL).
- WP2 – Semi-structured telephone interviews with a sample of respondents after each survey round will explore experiences of grief and bereavement during COVID-19, including bereavement support and unmet needs.
- WP3 – An online survey of bereavement service providers will identify service adaptations, key challenges and approaches to delivering accessible bereavement care during the pandemic. Survey findings will inform targeted case studies, developed via telephone interviews, to describe innovative practice. The study will identify ‘real-time’ implications for the delivery of end-of-life care and bereavement support during and beyond the pandemic and ensure prompt translation into practice.
Aims
This study aims to investigate the grief experiences, support needs and use of bereavement support by people bereaved during the pandemic, and the adaptations, challenges and innovation involved in delivering equitable bereavement support.
Progress
This study opened in September 2020 and ended in February 2023. Please see publications and other study outputs below.
Ethics approval
Cardiff University School of Medicine Research Ethics Committee SMREC 20/59.
Research networks
Dissemination via bereavement networks and organisations including project partners: The National Bereavement Alliance, Marie Curie, CRUSE Bereavement Care, The Good Grief Trust.
Media coverage
Find out more about the impact of the BeCOVID project through our media coverage.
2023
'Prolonged grief disorder more common in Covid lockdown bereaved, study finds', The Guardian, 19 September 2023
2022
'Covid restrictions made grief harder to bear in lockdown', BBC News West, 25 February 2022
2021
'People seeking help with grief during pandemic ‘struggled to access support’', Belfast Telegraph, 14 June 2021
'Those wishing to have bereavement support 'struggled to access' services during the pandemic', ITV News, 15 June 2021
'Government committed to plugging gaps in support for grieving families',Evening Standard, 15 June 2021
'Here’s How Young People Are Dealing With Grief During The Pandemic', Refinery29, 2 Decemeber 2021
'Meet the new generation of bereavement clubs changing the way we talk about death',Stylist, 3 December 2021
'Bereavement and End of Life Care during the Covid-19 pandemic', Covid Matters podcast, 18 Novemer 2021
2020
Dr Lucy Selman speaking on bereavement during COVID-19, Sky News, 27 November 2020
'UK's Covid bereaved suffer heightened grief, finds study',The Guardian, 26 November 2020
'How Covid is preventing the majority of people from saying goodbye to loved ones', ITV News, 26 November 2020
Dr Lucy Selman on ITV News discussing bereavement during COVID-19, ITV News, 26 November 2020
Study outputs
Read more about the work the BeCovid project has produced.
Resources
Grief Support Guide. Finding the Bereavement Support That’s Right for you. Grief Support Guide Collaboration (2023).
Publications
Prolonged grief during and beyond the pandemic: Factors associated with levels of grief in a four time-point longitudinal survey of people bereaved in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Harrop, E., Mirra, R.M., Goss, S., Longo, M., Byrne, A., Farnell, D.J., Seddon, K., Penny, A., Machin, L., Sivell, S. and Selman, L.E., Frontiers in Public Health, 11.
"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. L.E. Selman, D.J.J. Farnell, M. Longo, S. Goss, A. Torrens-Burton, K. Seddon, C.R. Mayland, L. Machin, A. Byrne, E.J. Harrop. Pall Med (2022).
Bereavement during the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK: What do we know so far? Harrop E., Selman L.E. Bereavement Journal (2022).
Risk factors associated with poorer experiences of end-of-life care and challenges in early bereavement: Results of a national online survey of people bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic. L. E. Selman, D.J.J.Farnell, M. Longo, S. Godd, K. Seddon, A. Torrens-Burton, C.R. Mayland, D. Wakefield, B. Johnston, A. Byrne, E. Harrop. Pall Med Vol. 36(4), 717–729 (2022)
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. E. Harrop, S. Goss, M. Longo, K. Seddon, A. Torrens-Burton, E. Sutton, D.J.J. Farnell, A. Penny, A. Nelson, A. Byrne, L.E. Selman (2022).
“It was brutal. It still is”: A qualitative analysis of the challenges of bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic reported in two national surveys. A. Torrens-Burton, S. Goss, E. Sutton, K. Barawi, M. Longo, K. Seddon, E. Carduff, D.J.J. Farnell, A. Nelson, A. Byrne, R. Phillips, L.E. Selman, E. Harrop. Palliative Care and Social Practice 16, 1-17 (2022).
Support needs and barriers to accessing support: Baseline results of a mixed-methods national survey of people bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic. E. Harrop, S. Goss, D. Farnell, M. Longo, A. Byrne, K. Barawi, A. Torrens-Burton, A. Nelson, K. Seddon, L. Machin, E. Sutton, A. Roulston, A. Finucane, A. Penny, K.V. Smith, S. Sivell, L.E. Selman. Palliat Med. 35(10), 1985-1997 (2021).
Information
| Principal investigators | Dr Emily Harrop Dr Lucy Selman (Palliative & End of Life Care Research Group) |
|---|---|
| Funder | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Contact | harrope@cardiff.ac.uk |
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