Take our Survey - How can we improve support for those bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic?

If you have lost a loved one to COVID-19 or another cause of death during the pandemic, and would like to share your experience, please take part in our survey.

Our researchers are looking at the grief experiences and support needs of people who have experienced the loss of a close family member, friend or other loved one who died in the UK since 16 March 2020. People bereaved during the Covid-19 crisis face significant challenges that shape their experiences of grief. The sudden nature of many Covid-19 deaths, and infection control measures that limit family contact with patients, adds to the distress of the bereaved. Whether the cause of death is Covid-19 or another illness/event, social distancing measures mean that family members grieve alone and mourning practices are disrupted. People from black and minority ethnic groups (BAME) are particularly affected by Covid-19 and also experience barriers to accessing bereavement services. Covid-19 has also brought significant challenges for bereavement services. Social distancing requirements make usual in-person individual and group bereavement support impossible, whilst responding to abnormal bereavement requires additional competencies among staff.

This study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, will identify ‘real-time’ implications for the delivery of end-of-life care and bereavement support during and beyond the pandemic. It will enable us to recommend how to achieve equitable and effective bereavement support, pandemic-specific competencies needed by bereavement support workers and specific types of support that should be prioritised at regional and national levels, whilst working throughout to ensure prompt translation into practice.

The first round of the online survey is now live and recruiting participants.

This is the link to the survey for people bereaved during the Covid-19 Pandemic:

https://cardiff.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/the-grief-experiences-and-support-needs-of-people-bereaved-2

The survey can also be made available in hard copy, Welsh and some other community languages upon request. Please contact Dr Emily Harrop at harrope@cardiff.ac.uk, or by telephone at 02920687184.