Viewing Volume 3 Issue 4 Winter 2000/01
Bereavement Support
Throughout 2000, there was a unique initiative to form the National Bereavement Consortium. This project, directed by Jonathan Hartley is intended to introduce a Standard for Bereavement Care. The project has talked to over 300 bereavement support providers across the UK, including MABF, and continues to research widely to build up evidence of current good practice. The Standards will therefore reflect and validate existing work.
Autumn 2001 will see the launch of the UK Council for Bereavement Care. The Council will publish National Standards for the support offered to bereaved people across UK.
It will provide national recognition for the valuable support already provided by bereavement services. It will give users and funders greater confidence because bereavement will be seen to be working to a National Standard.
Draft format, shape and scope of Bereavement Care Standards:
1. Policy context: This will explain the purpose and ethics of the:
1.1. Definitions.
1.2. Overview.
1.3. Principles e.g. Equal Opportunities.
2. Service Delivery: This section will describe the main types of bereavement care and support offered in the UK, as identified by the Steering Group / Council. Principles e.g. Equal Opportunities.
2.1. Befriending.
2.2. Counselling.
2.3. Facilitated Group - shared interest.
2.4. Non-facilitated Group - shared interest.
2.5. Telephone support.
3. Quality / Monitoring Criteria: This section sets out the standards, which are to be clearly monitored and evaluated
4. Core Standards are essential for providers to be recognized as working to a National Standard.
4.1. Confidentiality.
4.2. Equal Opportunity.
4.3. Health and Safety.
4.4. Record keeping / administration etc.
4.5. Statement of purpose.
4.6. Support and supervision.
4.7. Training.
5. Delivery Context Standards: Will advise those who deliver Standards how to translate them into context.
5.1. Befriending.
5.2. Counselling.
5.3. Facilitated Groups.
5.4. Non-facilitated Groups
5.5. Telephone Support.
6. Good Practice: Real-life examples will show how standards are being achieved, representing good practice as agreed by council.
6.1. Benchmarking examples of delivery.
7. Proceedures: These will lay out clear agreed protocols and procedures for all aspects of the Standards and Council.
7.1. Council Membership / Affiliation.
7.2. Compliance i.e. Review / Monitoring.
7.3. Self Assessment.
7.4. Complaints.
Principles for Standards.
Every death is a unique event and every bereavement is unique. Standards are not meant to be used prescriptively and need to be adapted to local needs. However, meeting certain defined principles can be indicative of the quality of berevement support and these principles can be universally applied.
Providers of support to bereaved people in the UK will:
a) Seek to be user-centred and to respond to the needs of the bereaved.
b) Acknowledge and affirm bereavement as a normal part of human experience.
c) Respect the variety of experiences of grief consistent with different family, community and cultural patterns.
d) Aim to ensure that no bereaved person / people is / are unable to receive bereavement support.
Comments and suggestions about the Standards should be directed to:
Jonathan Hartley
Tel 0207 700 0100 ext 281
FAX 0207 700 8146
e-mail: standards@bereavement.org.uk
For MABF these new Standards and Guidelines will be what we as an organisation hope to achieve and aim for.
By:J.H.
standards@bereavement.org.uk
Cochrane Review.
Brief psychological intervention “debriefing” for trauma related symptoms and prevention of post traumatic stress order.
Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of brief psychological debriefing for the management of psychological distress after trauma, and the prevention of post traumatic stress disorder.
Selection criteria: The inclusion criteria for all randomised studies was that they should focus on persons recently (one month or less) exposed to a traumatic event, should consist of a single session only, and that the intervention involve some form of emotional processing / ventilation by encouraging recollection / reworking of the traumatic event accompanied by normalisation of emotional reaction to the event.
Data collection & analysis: 8 trials fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Quality was generally poor. Data from two of the trials could not be synthesised.
Main results: Single session individual debriefing did not reduce psychological distress nor prevent the onset of post traumatic distress disorder (PTSD). Those who received the intervention showed no significant short term (3-5 months) in the risk of PTSD. At one year one trial reported that there was a significantly increased risk of PTSD in those receiving debriefing. There was also no evidence that debriefing reduced general psychological morbidity, depression or anxiety.
Reviewers conclusion: There is no current evidence that psychological debriefing is a useful treatment for the prevention of PTSD after traumatic incidents. Compulsory debriefing of victims of trauma should cease.
- gives a rather different outlook to the article in last years Volume 3 Issue 1 by Rosie Murray. Any thoughts or comments on whether we should continue with our debriefing session for the Emergency Duty Team?
By:This abstract by Simmon Wessely, Suzanna Rose, Jonathan Bisson – ISSN 1464-780X
The Internet.
Whether we like it or not the world wide web is a fact of life which we cannot ignore and is rapidly becoming one of the first places where people with problems and a computer look for information and support.
When you enter the word ‘bereavement’ into any search engine, you are overwhelmed by the number of sites which attempt to respond to this need.
For this reason MABF is trying to get on as many search engines as we can at low cost. And also why we have updated our web site, so that clients can find information they need and download the appropriate support leaflets.
Little research has been done as yet to examine how helpful such support is and under what conditions it is most effective.
To date we have had enquiries from Israel, Germany, America, Scotland and Australia for information about grief and wishing to contact bereavement counsellors or courses in this area. We have, through the ADEC directory, been able to pass on this information to the enquirer.
Those of you who have internet access may help the organisation by checking our web site and passing on any comments. By evaluating our service we can offer the best chance of positive interaction for bereaved people.
By:AT
Editorial.
As you can see our work will be fully recognised under the UK Council Standards in Bereavement Care. Some may say it is long overdue, however, we have experience of those in practice who advocate that they as ‘qualified’ counsellors do not need specialist training in Bereavement Care.
What has come out of this initial part of the project is that Bereavement Counselling is a very specialist field and more than any other, it must be seen to be carried out in a manner with set standards throughout the country.
Mistakes have been made with costly consequences to all parties. We at MABF will support this paper and its recommendations.
By:SFB
USEFUL WEB SITE
A useful and well used Web Site dedicated to and used by bereaved children.
http://kidsaid.com/
By: