Page 10 - Community Living Magazine 30-3

BereAVement
grIeF – what their concerns are and what
the services can do to support them.
tHe PrICe Talk to people about their experience.

One way is by using a ‘grief stages
oF loVe model’. However, bereavement
researchers today see limited value in it,
claiming there is no research base and
David o’Driscoll refects on how we that it is too simplistic to capture the
can help people with learning disabilities complexity of the grief process.
There are several versions of this model
cope with bereavement. widely known in health and social care
circles. The bereaved person moves
through stages: shock and denial,
here have been enormous There is concern about the overuse of followed by anger, resentment and guilt,
T changes for people with medication. While I feel that there is a then, bargaining, maybe depression
learning disabilities since one place for anti-depressants in helping a and fnally acceptance. While there is no
of the country’s frst person adjust to their new reality, ‘one size fts all’ approach, a stages
asylums opened in Abbots it seems that it is too easily prescribed model can be useful to help staff contain
Langley near Watford, at the frst signs of diffculty. We also their own anxiety whilst discussing with
Hertfordshire in 1870. know that people with learning the service user their experiences.
There was a lot of optimism disabilities are more likely to miss out It should not be used diagnostically but
when Leavesden opened its on attending a funeral or other rituals could help generate conversation.
doors and a great belief in of signifcant fgures in their lives.
such institutions. They were This is particularly so if they have a Practical methods
meant to be a ‘happier place’, severe learning disability. As a Current researchers have emphasised
where people with learning result, there have been countless the importance of individual meaning
disabilities would be recommendations for services, many of for the therapeutic intervention and
protected from diffcult which have guidelines today, hopefully this framework can help. There are
issues, such as death or loss. including the right to take part in rituals. other practical methods such as life
story books or the Books Beyond Words
In my historical research, I am always series (https://booksbeyondwords.co.uk).
struck by how painful the admission ...the key element in
process was for them and how little supporting the bereaved Also key is the relationship with the
attention there was to the person’s person is developing a deceased. We have moved away from
feelings. Also what happened on a relationship to generate the idea of letting go of the deceased as
practical level when someone died? dialogue about their people still live on in our minds and we
I was told that the ward was shut and experience of loss. need to fnd ways to support and
the body was disposed of. The deceased acknowledge this. One way would be
often simply disappeared and it was for support services to have a
very rare for the patients to be involved Many services have also developed end bereavement life history of each service
in any grief rituals. There was blindness of life plans. These are important as the user, with experiences of past losses,
or denial to the impact of this on the service user’s adjustment can depend on positive and negative, to help future
patients. It was not until the 1980s their environment, family or, more often planning. I have seen a number of
and the work of the social researcher than not, support services. But for me examples of the negative effects of poor
Maureen Oswin that loss and the key element in supporting the post bereavement planning on people’s
bereavement was seriously thought bereaved person is developing a lives. If people need external support
about. It was truly a sad situation. relationship to generate dialogue about Cruse, the bereavement support service
their experience of loss, giving them (www.cruse.org.uk), can be helpful with
Vulnerability opportunities to voice their sadness, more straightforward grief reactions.
Today, are we in a better place? It is a anger and/or anxiety. Yet this too can For more complex reactions referral to a
complex picture. We have a growing cause anxiety for staff who may fear specialist learning disability service
body of research on loss and learning they are opening a ‘can of worms’. is recommended.
disability which emphasises people’s
vulnerability. We know that many Research has revealed that support Loss and grief are fundamental to human
people with learning disabilities have a services are not adequately prepared life. Put simply, grief is the price we pay
lifelong history of loss, separation and to identify negative reactions to for love, and developing emotional bonds
abandonment. Some of this research bereavement. How should staff in to people, places even possessions.
into their end of life experience has support services help people with Most of us adapt well to bereavement
highlighted how people with learning learning disabilities with their grief? but it can be a sad place and we all
disabilities die, on average,16 years need support at this painful time.
before their counterparts without a It is important to support their
disability, and more than a third of involvement in rituals. If the families are David O’Driscoll is a psychotherapist with
these deaths are avoidable. anxious about including them, fnd out Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

8 Vol 30 No 3 | Spring 2017 Community Living www.cl-initiatives.co.uk