Towards an Understanding of the Role of Bereavement in the Pathway to Suicide (original) (raw)
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Exploring experiences of supports for suicide bereavement in Ireland: protocol for a national survey
HRB Open Research, 2021
Background A suicide death impacts upon the wellbeing of close family members and friends but has also been shown to affect many people outside of this immediate circle. This will be the first large-scale national study of adults bereaved or affected by suicide in Ireland, using a cross-sectional online survey. The overarching aim will be to gain insight into the experiences of supports received by people bereaved or affected by suicide and to identify the barriers to engagement following their loss. Methods A cross-sectional survey will be conducted among adults in Ireland who have been bereaved or affected by suicide. This project will seek to represent people with different demographics and backgrounds in the Irish population using a multifaceted approach to survey recruitment. A range of validated measures will be used to examine participants’ current wellbeing and grief experience. A combination of closed and open-ended questions will provide participants the opportunity to sha...
BMJ open, 2017
Research indicates that experiencing the suicide of a relative can have a significant impact on family members' emotional health. However, research incorporating the impact of suicide bereavement on family members' physical health is sparse. This paper details the protocol for a mixed-methods study of suicide-bereaved family members. The study will primarily examine the physical and mental health needs of those bereaved by suicide. A secondary objective of the study is to describe the support service needs of family members bereaved by suicide. A mixed-methods approach, using semistructured interviews and self-report questionnaires, will be used. Interviews will be conducted with a group of 15-20 relatives who experienced suicide bereavement. This protocol will follow the COREQ checklist criteria for the reporting of qualitative research interviews. Thematic analysis will be used to examine experiences and impact of bereavement on psychological and physical health. Self-repo...
Interventions for people bereaved through suicide: systematic review
British Journal of Psychiatry, 2008
BackgroundPromoting the mental health of people bereaved through suicide is a key aim of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy.AimsTo evaluate the effects of interventions to support people bereaved through suicide.MethodWe conducted a systematic review of data from controlled studies of interventions for people bereaved through suicide. Studies were identified using systematic searches, the methodological quality of included studies was assessed and narrative synthesis conducted.ResultsEight studies were identified. None was UK-based and all but one study had substantial methodological limitations. When compared with no intervention, there was evidence of some benefit from single studies of a cognitive–behavioural family intervention of four sessions with a psychiatric nurse; a psychologist-led 10-week bereavement group intervention for children; and 8-week group therapy for adults delivered by a mental health professional and volunteer. The findings from studies comparing two o...
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The aim of this thesis is to understand the impact of suicide on families of people who were in receipt of mental health services. Suicide survivors are often researched as a homogenous group and considering only a quarter of the decedents in the UK were in receipt of mental health services prior to their suicide, their family members have been subject to few studies. Suicide is a distinctive form of death and suicide survivors are at an increased risk of poorer physical and mental health so they may wish to access health services, such as counselling. However, a generic response by services fails to address family member’s individual needs because of the different personal, social and cultural factors influencing suicide bereavement. For family members, a key feature of dealing with a suicide is making sense of the death by drawing on their life with the deceased prior to the suicide. By focusing on the mental health context, this study highlights how some family members may have e...
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The knowledge on health service use, systematic follow-up, and support for families bereaved by suicide remains scarce. This scoping review includes studies from 2010 to March 2022 that investigate the follow-up and support offered by health services, peer support services, and other resources available (e.g., internet-based resources) for families bereaved by suicide. We followed the scoping review framework provided by the Johanna Briggs Institute and performed a double-blinded screening process using Covidence. Data were extracted by four researchers and a thematic analysis was performed to summarize the results. The PRISMA Extension for Scoping reviews was used for reporting results. Of 2385 studies screened by title, 190 by abstract, and 93 by full-text reading, we included 63 original articles of which 24, 29 and 10 were quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods studies, respectively. The review shows that we have some knowledge about the need for, and experiences with, heal...
ScienceDirect Exploring the complexities of suicide bereavement research
Exploring the complexities of suicide bereavement research , 2015
Statistics indicate a projected increase in the number of suicides by those in receipt of mental health services in England. Research has also shown that the impact of suicide on individuals who have lost someone to suicide have an increased risk of poor physical and mental health, including a higher risk of suicidality. However, research within suicide bereavement is limited due to the lack of methodologically robust studies involving those bereaved through suicide. This paper will offer an overview of current debates in the suicide bereavement literature and discuss a forthcoming qualitative study that will examine the impact of suicide by those in receipt of mental health services on their families. The current research will utilise a constructivist grounded theory approach. Analysis of the data will include a process of coding and comparison, leading to theory generation. This study aims to contribute to knowledge of the impact of suicide on family members (where the deceased was in receipt of mental health services) and how to provide effective post-intervention support for these particular families.
BMJ open, 2017
To test the hypothesis that people bereaved by suicide are less likely to receive formal or informal support than people bereaved by other causes of sudden death. National cross-sectional study. Adults working or studying at any UK higher education institution (HEI) in 2010. A total of 3432 eligible respondents aged 18-40 years bereaved by the sudden death of a close friend or relative, sampled from approximately 659 572 bereaved and non-bereaved staff and students at 37 of 164 UK HEIs invited to participate. Bereavement by suicide (n=614; 18%), by sudden unnatural causes (n=712; 21%) and by sudden natural causes (n=2106; 61%). Receipt of formal and informal support postbereavement; timing of valued support. 21% (725/3432) of our sample of bereaved adults reported receiving no formal or informal bereavement support, with no evidence for group differences. People bereaved by suicide were less likely to have received informal support than those bereaved by sudden natural causes (adjus...