ABSTRACT
Nearly all British children are bereaved of someone close to them by the time they turn 16 and, with the Covid-19 pandemic and world humanitarian crises across the news and social media, they are being exposed to more anxiety about death than ever before. Learners need to be taught about grief and death to prepare them to manage bereavement and support others. As it stands, although teaching resources exist and some curriculum guidance documents mention loss or death, there is no statutory requirement for schools anywhere in the UK to cover grief or bereavement and many pupils have no classes about these difficult topics. This article consolidates the case for grief education in schools. We discuss six key questions to examine evidence that children benefit from talking about grief, death and loss;the current provision for grief education in UK schools;the obstacles to teaching these topics and ways to overcome them;and the potential further implications of a policy change. Following the lead of child bereavement charities, research and new national reports on UK bereavement support, we demonstrate the need for mandatory grief education in all four countries of the UK and offer evidence-based recommendations for its implementation. © 2023, Cruse Bereavement Care. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background/aims: Good Grief Festival was initially planned as an inclusive face-to-face festival on the topic of grief. Due to COVID-19, the festival was held online over 3 days in October 2020. We aimed to evaluate the festival's reach and impact. Methods: A pre/post evaluation was conducted via online surveys. Prefestival surveys assessed reasons for attending and attitudes to bereavement across 4 items (being scared of saying the wrong thing, avoiding talking to someone bereaved, knowing what to do if someone bereaved was having trouble, knowing what kind of help/support to offer). Postfestival surveys evaluated audience experiences and the 4 attitude items. Results: 8500+ people attended, with most attending 2-5 events. Prefestival survey participants (n=3785) were mostly women (91%) and White (91%). 9% were from Black or minority ethnic communities. 14% were age ≥65 years, 16% age ≤34 years. 44% were members of the public. A third had been bereaved in the last year;6% had never been bereaved. People attended to learn about grief/bereavement (77%), be inspired (52%) and feel part of a community (49%). Post-festival participants (n=685) reported feeling part of a community (68%), learning about grief/bereavement (68%) and being inspired (66%). 89% rated the festival as excellent/very good. 75% agreed that through attending they felt more confident talking about grief. Higher ratings and confidence were associated with attending a greater number of events. Post-festival attitudes were significantly higher across all 4 items (P<0.001). Free-text data showed appreciation e.g., for the online format, connection in the context of lockdown and speakers' ethnic diversity. Suggestions included improving registration, more interactive/arts-based events and reducing the volume of content. Conclusions: Good Grief Festival was successful at reaching a large public audience, with data indicating benefit in terms of engagement, confidence and community-building. The evaluation was critical in shaping future events.