43 per cent of people said the bereavement care they received after a loved one died was not sufficient, according to research from Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF).
It shows that Ireland has struggled over the last year with bereavement and how our grieving rituals have been changed.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought huge changes to how we mourn, how we offer support to one another and highlighted the need for increased supports for bereaved families and individuals across the country, the IHF said.
The research carried out between February 18th and March 1st, surveyed over 1,000 adults nationwide which gave an insight into how our country is dealing with death and dying during lockdown.
The majority surveyed feel that the grief impact on the nation will be long-lasting.
However, with respect to bereavement supports less than one in five people believe bereavement care is sufficient in Ireland and a large proportion, 43 per cent, say it is not sufficient.
First lockdown
The IHF said they are determined to change this and offers support to anybody who may need it through their Bereavement Support Line. (Freephone 1800 80 70 77 – Monday to Friday, 10am-1pm).
The research shows that the vast majority of the population have had to deal with bereavement in some form over the past year and that those experiences have been drastically changed by the pandemic.
Speaking about the research, Irish Hospice Foundation chief executive Sharon Foley said: “This week marks the one-year anniversary of the first lockdown. It seems so long ago in some ways and has affected our lives in so many ways.
“But few experiences have been changed more profoundly than how we as Irish people deal with bereavement. It is often a community wide effort to support people who have lost a loved one and social distance and lockdowns have utterly changed that.”
Some other findings of Irish Hospice Foundation research were: nearly 73 per cent of the population struggled to know how to support family, friends who have been bereaved
Also, 80 per cent of the population feel there needs to be more support and advice on bereavement for families and friends of loved ones who have passed away.
