This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The England-wide study involving 121 bereaved people from 13 ethnic backgrounds found that racism, language barriers and a lack of culturally appropriate support continue to prevent many people from accessing help after the death of someone close to them. The study is published in the journal BMC Medicine.
The analysis was led by professor Lucy Selman at the University of Bristol, as part of a study co-led by Dr. Sabrina Bajwah of King's College London and Dr. Catriona Mayland of the University of Sheffield and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
The researchers argue that the problem does not lie with individuals or communities being reluctant to seek support. Instead, they say, inequities are rooted in the way bereavement services are designed, funded and delivered. In earlier research, around half of U.K. bereavement organizations reported that fewer than 5% of their clients were from minoritized ethnic groups, and a quarter did not collect ethnicity data at all.
Researchers interviewed bereaved people and 23 bereavement support providers from 12 services and ran co-design workshops with 53 community stakeholders in one of the largest studies of its kind. They found that obstacles existed at almost every stage of the journey to getting help. Unusually for bereavement research, the study also examined services from the inside.
Staff and volunteers from both large national services and small organizations serving ethnically diverse communities described the challenges they face in providing equitable support. These included relying on a small number of staff to drive equity work and funding systems that put smaller community organizations at a disadvantage. Many bereaved participants said they were unaware of available support or did not know how to access it.
Others described long waiting lists, referral systems that were difficult to navigate and services that lacked staff who reflected the communities they served. Many communities understood bereavement through family, community, cultural or faith-based practices that were not always recognized by existing services. Racism emerged as a recurring theme throughout the research.
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