Signposting to help — how can people in later life find bereavement support when they need it?
We know that one of the barriers that stops people aged 65 and over from accessing emotional support if needed following a bereavement is not knowing where to look, or not knowing that emotional support for bereavement even exists.
We heard this really strongly during the research interviews we conducted last year to inform our Grief Encounters report. And as a result, we ’ve been calling for improved signposting routes into emotional support following a death.
To build on this activity, we wanted to find out more about how signposting to emotional support following a bereavement could be done most effectively. In April, we posed this question to some members of our Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP), who share their views and experiences with us to help shape our policy work. We asked how they would like to receive information about emotional support, and what they thought of some examples of posters, leaflets and newsletters advertising emotional support to cope with a bereavement.
Our LEAP members shared some really insightful contributions — here is a summary of what they said:
Information should be provided in multiple places and at different times after a bereavement
LEAP members suggested a few places where they would look if they wanted to find out information about bereavement support, including looking online, asking GPs, and looking for information in libraries and community centres.
They felt it was important for professionals in contact with people just before or after a death — such as funeral directors, professional care workers and day centre employees — to provide information about emotional support to people.
“Even if you’ve had that leaflet for over six weeks, the very fact that somebody gave it to you then makes a lot of difference later to whether you’re going to access it or not.”
They also recommended information should be available in places where people often spend time including banks, post offices and hairdressers.
“People tell their hairdressers all sorts of things and they’re often very good listeners too. If they had little cards, ‘Have you heard about this?’, maybe.”
Word of mouth can be key
Group members reflected that since not everyone would feel comfortable reaching out to an unknown service, word of mouth is important for making support feel relevant to people.
“I think it’s quite hard to reach out to organisations that you don’t know when you are suffering after somebody’s died because effectively, you’ve got to tell your story, haven’t you, to somebody that you don’t know, often that you can’t see and that feels like a real barrier.”
People who work in cafes or foodbanks, could play an important role in proactively passing the word on about available support, alongside organisations that are already known to people, including employers and housing services.
“Quite frankly, leaflets and posters aren’t the best way of getting information across anyway, gossip is — somebody telling somebody else”
Clearly, there is a role both for making information widely available about emotional support services to cope with grief, as well as facilitating conversations within communities that can help people feel confident reaching out for support.
Information should be clear and concise
Reflecting on the example posters and leaflets we showed them, LEAP group members thought that signposting materials should not be too wordy and should include only the essential information, especially on posters that may be read from a distance. Making clear what support is being offered and what actions people should take as a next step is crucial.
“The key information is the phone number and the website address and what you can get from it.”
The group also picked up on some language that felt a bit alien to them, such as ‘professional support’. They felt this would need to be made clear for some people who might not have a frame of reference for what that means. They were in favour of using literal language, for example talking about ‘death’ rather than terms such as ‘loss’.
“I think people are either frightened of using the word death or dying or they are trying to be too polite.”
There was also a discussion about how effective images were in signposting materials, including the need for them to be relevant and not too sentimental. For example, the group were not keen on the use of a heart icon in one of the posters:
“I just think it’s a bit too sentimental when actually when you’re grieving it’s actually quite raw and you don’t want sugar-coating. You need real help.”
Information should be accessible and reach out to groups who are less likely to seek support
LEAP members told us it was important that any information about emotional support following a bereavement should be presented in an accessible way, for example making language, colour and font choices accessible for those with dyslexia and other forms of neurodiversity.
“It’s nice and colourful, that’s a plus, but again, for somebody with dyslexia, there’s all sorts of issues about the type of font, the white background with the different coloured fonts in different places.”
While all members of the group were women, one reflected on the particular need to make signposting materials feel relevant to men, who may be less likely to reach out for support.
“I know men and suicide is recognised but before they get to that stage, is there help and intervention that could happen, messaging that would reach men in particular.”
Independent Age has been working with a coalition of charities and researchers to establish the UK Commission on Bereavement, which has taken evidence from members of the public and organisations about people’s experiences of bereavement in the last five years.
We have fed in our evidence to the Commission and hope that measures to improve signposting to emotional support will be a key recommendation in their report due in September 2022. More information about the Commission can be found here: https://bereavementcommission.org.uk
