The social health domain of people bereaved by a drug-related death and associations with professional help: A cross-sectional study

Kalsås, Øyvind Reehorst; Dyregrov, Kari; Titlestad, Kristine Berg

doi:10.1080/07481187.2022.2142329

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Thus, the managers should create practical systems, or they may not be in use because "they do not fit", as the crisis team member quoted (C1ID1) on page 9 states, simultaneously illustrating the interconnection with the micro-level. Research confirms that the majority of DRD-bereaved miss psychosocial follow-up, implying that the resources from the meso-level do not reach the micro-level (Kalsås et al, 2022;Titlestad et al, 2019;Walter et al, 2017).…”

Section: Barriers Relating To Complex Service Structuresmentioning

confidence: 80%

Barriers and facilitative factors in the provision of first-responder services to persons bereaved following a drug-related death: A qualitative study

Løseth

Selseng

Dyregrov

2023

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

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Aim: To broaden our knowledge from the perspective of municipality first-responder services of what prevents and what facilitates the provision of professional assistance to the bereaved after a drug-related death during the acute phase. Method: A reflexive thematic analysis was applied in six focus group interviews with 27 first-responder personnel in Norway. Results: The acute phase presented a challenging and complex support situation. We identified two main barriers: failure to initiate services and difficulties meeting with bereaved persons who use drugs. Facilitative factors were associated with competence and proactive cooperation. We discuss the findings in light of associated stigma, disenfranchised grief and an ecological approach to public services. Conclusion: First-responder professionals must understand drug-related death as a potentially traumatising event and initiate the procedures set out in the national guidelines. To achieve this, first-responder health and welfare services must become more knowledgeable about drug-related loss and bereavement, acute grief reactions and the need for psychosocial follow-up.

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Section: Barriers Relating To Complex Service Structuresmentioning

confidence: 80%

Barriers and facilitative factors in the provision of first-responder services to persons bereaved following a drug-related death: A qualitative study

Løseth

Selseng

Dyregrov

2023

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

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“…The participants’ storytelling demonstrates that they draw on cultural resources that inform them that their drug use is culturally unacceptable and shameful. This understanding creates a silence around their own grief experiences, leaving no room for processing the grief with the help of social networks, which is pivotal to coping with grief (Dyregrov & Dyregrov, 2008; Kalsås et al, 2023; Nurullah, 2012). Our findings are in line with Masferrer et al's (2017) comparison of grievers with substance use problems with grievers not using substances.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…DRDs are drug-induced deaths, deaths directly attributable to the use of illicit psychoactive drugs, and deaths caused by illness, accidents, suicide, and violence related to the intake of drugs. As described in the European Drug Report (EMCDDA, 2023), DRDs are a significant societal challenge in many countries and have a major impact on the lives of the bereaved (Kalsås et al, 2023;Titlestad et al, 2019Titlestad et al, , 2022.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research on sudden and unnatural deaths has highlighted that such a death can have severe, serious, and long-lasting consequences for the closely bereaved, including complicated grief reactions such as prolonged grief disorder, mental health problems, physical illness, and social isolation (Djelantik et al, 2020; Kristensen et al, 2012; Stroebe et al, 2017). Key factors in coping with grief are meaning-making (Neimeyer, 2000; Valentine, 2019), the interaction between the construction of hope, self-compassion, and posttraumatic growth (Morris et al, 2021; Sperandio et al, 2021), and relational support (Dyregrov & Dyregrov, 2008; Kalsås et al, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Grieving a Drug-Related Death in the Context of One's Own Drug Use: An Exploratory Study

Selseng,

Stroebe,

Lindeman

et al. 2023

Contemporary Drug Problems

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Drug-related deaths (DRDs) are a major societal challenge. People who use drugs are at particular risk of witnessing DRDs, and of losing people close to them to a DRD, and experiencing an overdose or other health issues themselves. People who experience sudden, unexpected, and stigmatized deaths, such as DRDs, are found to struggle more afterward than when the death is more natural and expected. Additionally, people who use drugs are more likely to experience a complicated grieving process following the loss of someone. Despite this, knowledge about the connections between a person's own drug use and reaction following bereavement from a DRD is scarce. This article makes a start at filling this knowledge gap. Based on interviews with people who used drugs and were bereaved following DRDs, the article explores how the bereaved spoke about the relationship between their drug use and losing a close friend or intimate partner to a DRD. We present four types of stories about the relationship between grief following DRDs and drug use. Informed by the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement, we discuss the stories and highlight how drug use is used to handle emotional overload, how drug use leads to uncommon expressions of grief, and how the relationship between grief and drug use may lead to an avoidance of the reality of loss. We point out that drug use and grief are strongly intertwined and how stigma associated with DRDs and drug use creates obstacles to openness and relating to social networks in support processes.

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Drug Death-Bereaved Parents’ Perspectives on Family Interactions and Help Needs: A Qualitative Study

Kalsås,

Dyregrov,

Fadnes

et al. 2023

Contemp Fam Ther

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Family relations are essential for the bereaved in terms of healing and adjusting to life, especially after experiencing a traumatic death. Although 500 000 people die in drug-related deaths each year, few works focus on family interactions and the help needs of those bereaved by such losses. In this qualitative study, we interviewed 14 parents who had lost their child through a drug-related death. Through a reflexive thematic analysis, we generated three themes: (I) considerable needs in the family become our responsibility, capturing how parents try to mend the disrupted family system and provide adequate care for those who struggle after death, (II) conversations that are important for family connections are obstructed, encompassing how family members sometimes seem afraid of grief emotions and try to protect each other by not talking, and (III) as parents, we can strengthen family connections, encapsulating how parents create space to talk and listen to each other in the family and navigate relational challenges in maintaining relationships. The findings are discussed through the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement as well as family resilience theory. Based on the results, we propose that professional family-oriented help efforts for drug death-bereaved families in two main domains should be considered. The first includes those related to the family’s need and ability to adapt roles and relationships to the new reality, and the second involves those connected to creating a space and environment for emotional sharing and joint meaning-making processes in the family.

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The social health domain of people bereaved by a drug-related death and associations with professional help: A cross-sectional study

Cited by 7 publications

References 58 publications

Barriers and facilitative factors in the provision of first-responder services to persons bereaved following a drug-related death: A qualitative study

Barriers and facilitative factors in the provision of first-responder services to persons bereaved following a drug-related death: A qualitative study

Grieving a Drug-Related Death in the Context of One's Own Drug Use: An Exploratory Study

Drug Death-Bereaved Parents’ Perspectives on Family Interactions and Help Needs: A Qualitative Study

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