Planning, facilitating and evaluating a bereavement group for adults with learning disabilities living in the community
Accessible Summary

Adults with learning disabilities sometimes find it hard to cope when someone they care about dies.
This report talks about an 8-week group that was run to help four adults with learning disabilities cope with their bereavements.
We asked group members to fill in questionnaires and talked to them about what they liked and did not like about the group.
Everyone found it helpful to share their experiences and learn new ways of coping with their bereavements.




Summary

This study evaluates the usefulness of a bereavement group for four adults with learning disabilities. Drawing on the work of Boyden et al. (2009), the current authors planned and facilitated an 8-week group, held in the local community. Qualitative and quantitative feedback was collected from participants, which indicated that they valued the group as a safe and useful space to talk about their bereavements and to learn skills to manage difficult emotions. This study reports and reflects on the process of establishing the group, developing the session plans, delivering the intervention and collecting feedback.