How we improved bereavement awareness among the community in Halton

by Kate Bazley, Mental Health and Wellbeing lead, Halton Health Improvement Team, Halton Borough Council

While you might go to your GP if you’re struggling with bereavement, the people you’ll engage with every day in your community are likely to be at your local shop, at the hairdressers, at work or at school.

That’s why these were the people and organisations we targeted when we decided to deliver training with Child Bereavement UK to begin to build a more resilient, understanding community that’s less afraid to check in with someone who is grieving and say ‘are you OK?’

When someone dies, people often feel uncomfortable and that they don’t know what to say to someone who is bereaved or how to do the ‘right’ thing - they’re second guessing themselves. The training gave the people who took part the agency and confidence to feel that they could support people they meet who are bereaved - whether that’s friends, customers, pupils or colleagues.

And it’s not just about awareness, it’s about prevention too. If you feel isolated, lonely and overwhelmed in your grief that can manifest itself physically, which is when you are more likely to need help from GPs and other health services. So building awareness and skills in the community to provide everyday support has far-reaching implications.

Research has shown the impact when grief isn’t adequately supported, particularly in terms of mental and physical health and future economic prospects. Bereaved people want to be supported initially by friends and family and those they know best in the community but we need to provide them with the skills and confidence to provide that support.

Our project in Halton was delivered on a very small budget but in an ideal world it would be good to see a national focus on bereavement awareness.

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