A Literature Review on Loss and Bereavement
This literature review investigates the prevalence and impact of loss and bereavement on individuals experiencing severe and multiple disadvantage. In the absence of protective factors such as affluence and social support, these experiences can shape people’s life chances and lead to the ‘revolving door’.
Our aim is to better understand the impact and prevalence of a wider range of losses in the lives of people facing multiple disadvantage. The impetus has been the insights that people with lived experience have shared. Although loss is an inevitable and universal experience, people facing multiple disadvantage experience loss at a disproportionate rate.
The review has three key themes – loss as a continuum, the prevalence of bereavement through death, and traumatic death as a unique loss. We also look at the effects of loss, and its implications for support and research.
We intend this to be an introduction to the literature on this topic. We hope it will contribute to sector understanding, inspire researchers to develop further evidence, and encourage policymakers and practitioners to develop more effective responses.
