Optimizing bereavement outcome: reading the road ahead

After a death has occurred, those most affected are left to make sense of the illness and the awesome event that has taken place. When the death is caused by cancer, many skills may have been employed to ensure that the palliative care was of a high enough standard. Yet still many mourners reflect with sadness and bitterness about the experience that was unique to them. In the process of evaluating a volunteer bereavement support programme, the key carers were asked to reflect upon their experience before, during and after the death. If we listen to them, we can learn the ways in which our skills can enable the death to be an enriching experience and not one which interferes with mourning.