"It's a living experience" : bereavement by suicide in later life

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Hafford-Letchfield, Trish and Hanna, Jeffrey and Grant, Evan and Ryder-Davies, Lesley and Cogan, Nicola and Goodman, Jolie and Rasmussen, Susan and Martin, Sophie (2022) "It's a living experience" : bereavement by suicide in later life. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19 (12). 7217. ISSN 1660-4601 (https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127217)

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Abstract

Bereavement by suicide for people in later life is significantly under-researched. Research on ageing and suicide has yet to address the experiences of those bereaved by suicide and how such a devastating loss affects the ageing experience. Objectives: We explored the substantive issues involved in bereavement by suicide and its impact on later life. Methods: This was a co-produced qualitative study. Peer researchers with lived experience conducted in-depth interviews with twenty-four people aged 60–92 years. A phenomenological approach informed the data analysis. Main Findings: Themes described included (1) moral injury and trauma; (2) the rippling effect on wider family and networks; (3) transitions and adaptations of bereaved people and how their ‘living experi-ence’ impacted on ageing. Conclusions: It is important to understand how individual experiences of suicide intersect with ageing and the significance of targeted assessment and intervention for those bereaved by suicide in ageing policies and support.

ORCID iDs

Hafford-Letchfield, Trish ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0105-0678, Hanna, Jeffrey ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8218-5939, Grant, Evan, Ryder-Davies, Lesley, Cogan, Nicola ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0861-5133, Goodman, Jolie, Rasmussen, Susan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6408-0028 and Martin, Sophie;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)