Support needs and barriers to accessing support: Baseline results of a mixed-methods national survey of people bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Harrop E. , Goss S. , Farnell D. , Longo M. , Byrne A. , Barawi K. , Torrens-Burton A. , Nelson A. , Seddon K. , Machin L. , Sutton E. , Roulston A. , Finucane A. , Penny A. , Smith K.V. , Sivell S. , Selman L.E. 
Published: June 2021

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is a mass bereavement event which has profoundly disrupted grief experiences. Understanding support needs and access to support among people bereaved at this time is crucial to ensuring appropriate bereavement support infrastructure.

Aim

To investigate grief experiences, support needs and use of formal and informal bereavement support among people bereaved during the pandemic.

Design

Baseline results from a longitudinal survey. Support needs and experiences of accessing support are reported using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of free-text data.

Setting/Participants

711 adults bereaved in the UK between March-December 2020, recruited via media, social media, national associations and community/charitable organisations.

Results

High-level needs for emotional support were identified. Most participants had not sought support from bereavement services (59%, n=422) or their GP (60%, n=428). Of participants who had sought such support, over half experienced difficulties accessing bereavement services (56%, n=149)/GP support (52%, n=135). 51% reported high/severe vulnerability in grief; among these, 74% were not accessing bereavement or mental-health services. Barriers included limited availability, lack of appropriate support, discomfort asking for help, and not knowing how to access services. 39% (n=279) experienced difficulties getting support from family/friends, including relational challenges, little face-to-face contact, and disrupted collective mourning. The perceived uniqueness of pandemic bereavement and wider societal strains exacerbated their isolation.

Conclusions

People bereaved during the pandemic have high levels of support needs alongside difficulties accessing support. We recommend increased provision and tailoring of bereavement services, improved information on support options, and social/educational initiatives to bolster informal support and ameliorate isolation.

Key statements

What is already known about the topic?

– Features of pandemic bereavement, such as traumatic death experiences, exacerbate family distress and add to the complexity of grief.

– In pre-pandemic times most people mainly relied on the informal support of friends and family to cope with their bereavement, but an estimated 40% required more formal therapeutic support from bereavement or mental health services.

– Bereaved people experience difficulties getting the support that they need from bereavement services and their social networks.

What this paper adds

– Participants had high level needs for emotional support, especially dealing with/expressing feelings, with 51% experiencing high or severe vulnerability in grief; however, 74% of this group were not accessing formal bereavement service or mental health support.

– Most participants had not tried to access bereavement services, for reasons such as lack of appropriate support, discomfort in asking for help and uncertainty of how to access services; of the 41% who tried, 56% experienced difficulties such as long waiting lists or ineligibility.

– A substantial proportion of people (39%) reported difficulties accessing support from friends and family; reduced in-person contact affected the perceived quality of support and disrupted collective mourning practices, whilst the wider social difficulties of the pandemic compounded feelings of isolation.

Implications for policy and practice

– Further investment in the provision of tailored bereavement support is needed to meet the diverse needs and backgrounds of bereaved people, including support that is culturally and crisis/context competent, and group-based support for those with shared experiences and characteristics.

– To raise awareness of support options, information on grief and bereavement services should be provided proactively following a death and made available in online and community settings, with GPs and other primary care providers better resourced to signpost to appropriate support.

– Following compassionate communities approaches, expanded provision of informal community-based support and activities could help with isolation, whilst longer-term educational and societal initiatives are needed to bolster community support for people experiencing death, dying and bereavement.