Viewing Volume 4 Issue 3 Winter 2001/02
UK. Standards for Bereavement Care.
A National Bereavement Consortium initiative funded by the Community Fund has set out the Principles and Standards for bereavement care in the UK. The document; October 2001 is the preliminary version of the UK Standards for Bereavement Care.
The Need;
The death of someone close is often the most devastating experience that we will ever have. Although life will never be the same again, most people find ways of adjusting to the loss. It is normal and natural to grieve, but for some, doing so may just be too difficult or traumatic without traditional support. At times like this when people can be at their most vulnerable, bereavement support services can provide a range of appropriate professional and trained support. For the first time in the UK, there is now a set of nationally agreed Standards to ensure that the support is safe, appropriate and ethical.
The Standards and Principles;
The Bereavement Care Standards in the document have the status of work in progress, adn are generaalised not prespective statements. They need to be adapted to individual needs and circumstances and the availability of local services. Key to their implementation is the set of principles, which can be universally applied whether support is offered one-to-one or within a wider group. These help to define the quality of bereavement support offered. Together with the Standards, the Principles will:- provide national recognition for the valuable support already provided by bereavement services; give users and funders greater confidence because bereavement services will be seen to be working to a National Standard.
The Bereavement Care Standards Council:-
This organisation is being established to carry the work forward. Recognising that the Standards are not tablets of stone fixed for all time, the councill will ensure that the Standards are monitored constantly and revised in the light of experience.
Why have the Standards benn Written?
The Bereavement Care Standards, written following widespread consultation amongst bereavement supporters, provide a tool to ensure that those who deliver support to bereaved people in the UK will do so safely, ethically and appropriately. Anyone involved in bereavement work aspires to give the best possible service to people who seek help with issues of loss and grief. Many of the services and individuals offering support to people in the UK do so with the highest integrety and according to well developed standards. Until now, however, there have bee no nationally recognised Standards to which services can subscribe.
The Principle Beneficiaries will be:-
Bereaved people - at a time when they are the most vulnerable, they can make informed choices and be more confident that the support they seek will be safe and effective.
Providers of support - good practice will be validated and efforts to improve quality endorsed.
Health & Social Care Professionals - those who refer bereaved people to services can be more confident of the quality of support offered.
Funders - services will be more openly accountable. It is estimated that 80% of bereavement support is delivered by the voluntary sector, and 90% of it by volunteers. The Standards are firmly founded in the Voluntary Sector and will have their biggest impact there. However, statutory providers of bereavement care have been closely involved with the work of the Project. Coupled with the increasing recognition of the efficacy of bereavement support and more resources being made available within the Statutory Sector, it is therefore predicted that they will inform such work of bereavement support which takes place in the Statutory Sector.
If you would like to know more about this work and be sent details of the Full Report, please contact:-
Bereavement Care Standards,
UK Project,
London Bereavement Network,
356 Holloway Road,
London N7 6PA
Tel: 0207 700 8134 FAX: 0207 700 8146
By:Bereavement Care Standards Project 2001
The Loss of a Silent Partner
I am writing this reflection five days after the sudden death, but not unexpected death of my ex-husband. We had been divorced for 14 years. He had remarried eight years ago, I have not remarried. Our relationship was civil, even cordial. Our paths crossed occasionally.
The impact of his death has been profound. I had not anticipated the waves of sadness and feelings of emptiness. I anticipated the incredible sadness and worry that I have had for my children and grandchildren. But I was unprepared for the unbidden reaction that I have personally experienced, I felt sadness, fear and guilt.
I realised the day before the Memorial Services that what I was grieving was the loss of a silent partner. He wasn't a part of my daily life and we seldom conferred with each other. For our adult children, the death of their father reminded then that time moves on and the next death could be their mother.
Our family is now smaller. Where is the man my son resembles? Where is the father who kidded with my daughter.
My colleagues and friends were sympathetic even though they didn't know what to expect. My first day back at work, a colleague who had lost her ex-husband a year ago said "Isn't it hard?" And we talked. That was so helpful.
This loss experience has deepened me and made me more aware. I will be alert to the needs of those who have lost an ex-spouse or partner, and I will acknowledge them with written or spoken words.
By:Marcia Williams
ADEC
(Abridged Version)
URGENT
The office is still desperate for help; Rachel has had a hip replacement and Angela has had cardiac surgery. Therefore manning the telephone is rather sparse at present, could anyone help for any length of time?
By:SB
Editorial
Kevin Kendrick was guest speaker at several of our past Annual Conferences, sadly he died following a road accident on 14th September 2001.
He was an active member of the Royal College of Nursing and a lecturer in nursing at Leeds University.
Collegues and friends at his funeral a week later spoke of his friendship and contributions to nursing... MABF's condolences were sent to his widow Pauline and two sons, Stephen and Paul. He will be sadly missed by all who came in contact with him.
By:AT