The Scottish Bereavement Summit

The Scottish Bereavement Summit

Rebecca Patterson, Director, Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief

Last October, over 130 people working within the bereavement sector in Scotland met online at the Scottish Bereavement Summit. The aim was that delegates could explore how to work together to improve experiences of bereavement in Scotland.

Three broad areas were up for discussion:

• Formal bereavement services: how can formal bereavement support services (which provide for example counselling and access to peer support groups) be strengthened and improved?
• Informal bereavement support: what can be done to support communities of all kinds (including workplaces, schools, families and neighbourhoods) to provide better informal support to people who have been bereaved.
• Health and social care staff who experience multiple bereavements: how can staff get the support they need at work.

Together, delegates took the opportunity to share their experiences of current challenges facing the bereavement sector, learn about recent publications on the subject, and discuss ideas and priorities for practical future action to improve bereavement experiences in Scotland.

Views were recorded and shared through a pre-conference survey, live digital questionnaire (Menti) and online flipchart (Padlet) during and following discussions.

The Bereavement Summit provided a chance for the bereavement community in Scotland to consider recently published reports/recommendations on bereavement issues including the Report of the UK Commission of Bereavement. It became clear that there is a growing consensus over what the key areas of focus should be in the future, and that the sector is keen to focus on how improvements can be achieved.

Summit discussions illustrated how those working within the bereavement sector can bring helpful insights into what kinds of changes might help and, more importantly, what might be do-able within the current environment.

They also provided helpful insights about what initiatives, projects and networks already exist that could be learnt from, built on or scaled up, rather than starting from scratch or duplicating what already exists. Delgates also provided valuable views on what areas should be priorities, how the ‘system’ can be improved, and what barriers exist.

These insights are been used to inform a Report and Recommendations which seek to reflect the Scottish context and experience and suggest practical ways of improving people’s experiences of bereavement in Scotland. The final report and recommendations is expected to be published in Spring 2023.

Further information

A recording and presentations from the Scottish Bereavement Summit is available here: https://www.goodlifedeathgrief.org.uk/news/news/bereavement-summit---outputs/