Help and support for bereaved persons who use drugs: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT

Despite high rates of drug-related deaths in many countries across Europe, drug-related bereavement has been sparsely investigated. Given the fact that people using illicit drugs are at particular risk of experiencing bereavement as a result of a drug-related death (DRD), which is then related to increased drug use and the risk of developing complicated grief, there is an urgent need for knowledge about their needs and experiences regarding help and support. The present study aimed to explore the experiences of help and support for DRD bereaved persons who use drugs. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse 13 semi-structured individual interviews. Findings suggest that the bereaved who use drugs are deprived of both social support and professional help. Based on our results, we recommend that social professions gain knowledge of the risk of complicated grief following DRD, and be able to provide adequate help to bereaved persons who use drugs. An important precondition is that the professionals listen to what the bereaved need. Bereaved persons who use drugs can improve their self-care by acknowledging their grief following drug-related death and being open to those around them about what kind of help and support is helpful.

SAMANDRAG

Til tross for at talet overdoserelaterte dødsfall i mange europeiske land er høgt, er livssituasjonen til etterlatne ved narkotikarelatert død (NRD) lite utforska. Personar som bruker illegale rusmiddel er i ein særskilt risiko for å erfare å bli etterlatne ved NRD. Om dei opplever å bli etterlatt etter eit brå og uventa dødsfall som eit narkotikarelatert dødsfall ofte er, aukar risikoen både for auka rusmiddelbruk og for utvikling av komplisert sorg. Dette gjer det sentralt å få kunnskap om deira behov og erfaringar knytt til hjelp og støtte. Målet med den presenterte studien var å utforske erfaringar med å få hjelp og støtte for etterlatne etter NDR med eigne rusutfordringar. Tretten individuelle intervju blei analysert ved hjelp av refleksiv tematisk analyse. Analysen viser at dei etterlatne som bruker illegale rusmiddel hadde opplevd lite sosial støtte og profesjonell hjelp retta mot sorga. Basert på våre resultat, tilrår vi at sosialfaglege profesjonar får kunnskap om risikoen for komplisert sorg etter DRD og om korleis etterlatne som bruker rusmiddel kan få adekvat hjelp. Ein viktig føresetnad for god hjelp er at dei profesjonelle lyttar til kva den etterlatne treng. Etterlatne som bruker rusmiddel kan auke sin eigenomsorg ved å anerkjenne sorga etter å ha mista nære ved narkotikarelatert død og ved å vere open til nettverk og profesjonelle om kva for hjelp og støtte som er hjelpsam.

KEYWORDS:

• Bereaved
• drug-related death
• psychosocial follow-up
• substance use
• support

NØKKELORD:

• Etterlatne
• narkotikarelatert død
• psykososial oppfølging
• rusmiddelbruk
• støtte og hjelp

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to the bereaved persons for taking the time and effort to participate in the interviews. Thanks to members of the research group FORS and experts by experience in the END-project for helpful comments and discussions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Council of Norway [grant number 300732].

Notes on contributors

Lillian Bruland Selseng

Lillian Bruland Selseng, Professor. She is a social worker and has a PhD in Social Work and Social Policy. Her research interests include substance use and social work, social work practice, user involvement, bereavement care and drug-related death.

Monika Alvestad Reime

Monika Alvestad Reime, Associate Professor/Postdoctoral fellow. She is a social worker and has a PhD in administration and organisation theory. Her research interests include public policy, professional practices, service delivery systems, health and social services, bereavement care, grief, problematic drug use, and child welfare.

Sari Kaarina Lindeman

Sari Kaarina Lindeman, is a doctorate student at The Tavistock and Portman NHS, clinical social worker and family therapist. She has a long experience from substance use services. She is an assistant professor, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Department of welfare and participation and a researcher in END project.