Suicide bereavement can have long-lasting impacts on health and wellbeing. Healthcare and community professionals exposed to suicide loss in their occupation are at risk of challenges in their personal and professional life like the rest of the population. Moreover, 44% of healthcare and community professionals bereaved in a professional capacity did not access formal supports, according to the Irish Suicide Bereavement Survey.
This research project aims to examine the impacts on wellbeing, grief experience and help-seeking of healthcare and community professionals bereaved by suicide in a professional capacity. This study will identify and characterise professionals by job description, types and the number of bereavement(s) experienced, examine the impacts of suicide bereavement on wellbeing and grief experience and the experiences of accessing and engaging with supports.
This study will be a mixed-methods (primarily quantitative), secondary data analysis study using data from a cross-sectional online survey, the Irish Suicide Bereavement Survey, conducted between October 2021 and February 2022. Sociodemographic details, information on wellbeing (measured using standardised scales – WHO-5, PHQ-ADS and Grief Experience Questionnaire), information on their bereavement(s) including time since loss and relationship to the deceased, details on the impact of bereavement, supports accessed following bereavement, and barriers to accessing supports, will be collected for data analysis.