Social Work Commons^™

Why Are So Many Indigenous Peoples Dying And No One Is Paying Attention? Depressive Symptoms And “Loss Of Loved Ones” As A Result And Driver Of Health Disparities, Catherine E. Mckinley, Jennifer Miller Scarnato, Sara Sanders

Social Service Faculty Publications

Indigenous peoples have not only experienced a devastating rate of historical loss of lives, they are more likely to experience mortality disparities. The purpose of this article is to examine Indigenous women’s lived experiences of grief and loss in two Southeastern tribes and the relationship between depressive symptoms and recent loss of a loved one. Our exploratory sequential mixed-methods research was informed by the Indigenous based Framework of Historical Oppression, Resilience, and Transcendence (FHORT). We summarized key qualitative themes from ethnographic data from 287 female participants across the two tribes, collected through focus groups, family interviews, and individual interviews. We …

Making Meaning Of Being Bereaved By Suicide: An Everyday Experience, Colleen Carlon

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This autoethnography explores the experience of societal meanings of suicide from the perspective of people bereaved by suicide. The research focuses on three autoethnographic stories of everyday experiences in which personal meaning making and societal meanings of suicide intersect in contemporary Australian settings. Personal perspectives are positioned alongside broader discussions of suicide taboo to consider the implications for agency and meaning making. Key differences between conventional notions of stigma and structural stigma, and ways in which suicide taboo influences meaning making for people bereaved by suicide are explored. The paper proposes a recasting of action previously framed as internalised stigma …

When We Can’T Say Goodbye — Loss, Grief, And Dying During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Holly Nelson-Becker, Ann Callahan

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

How do we understand and manage our thoughts about death? How can we prepare for our own and the deaths of others for whom we care deeply? How can we communicate at times when our clients, significant others, or friends are dying? Finally, how do we say goodbye in haste or cope when we cannot?

This article addresses three complementary aspects of death and grief: death and loss for the one who is dying, death and loss for the person mourning, and death and loss for communities. Each section is informed by public health guidelines, statements by professional organizations, and …

“Our Only Child Has Died” – A Study Of Bereaved Older Chinese Parents, Yongqiang Zheng, Thomas R. Lawson, Barbara Anderson Head

Faculty Publications - College of Social Work

Long and complicated grief is a relevant factor contributing to the deterioration of the older adults’ later life quality. In China, the unintentional consequence of the one child policy has emerged. There, the group of older adults who lost their only child is called shiduers. The current study compared 42 older adults who lost their only child to 33 older adults who have a child, in term of their physical and mental health, and social support. The results confirmed the general deteriorating trend in those aspects of the bereaved Chinese parents’ life after their only child’s death. The results also …

Identity Reconstruction As Shiduers: Narratives From Chinese Older Adults Who Lost Their Only Child, Yongqiang Zheng, Thomas Lawson

Faculty Publications - College of Social Work

The purpose of this qualitative study was to illustrate how the identity of Chinese older adults who lost their only child changed after the traumatic event in the context of unique culture and policy settings. The individuals studied were 14 adults over the age of 50. Each respondent was interviewed concerning his or her post-loss experiences. Results indicated that these bereaved parents are not only deeply impacted by the loss of the most loved one, but are also stigmatized by the culture and victimized by the one-child policy. The collective identity as shiduer is defined not only by personal grief …

The Coping Context Of Anticipatory Grief For Hiv Case Managers, Amandia Speakes-Lewis Phd, Lcsw-R

Faculty Works: SW (2011-2020)

In the early phase of HIV/AIDS the exorbitant rate of death impeded the case managers’ ability to effectively engage the client in preparing for an impending death outcome. In the post-HAART era, case managers are charged with assessing and coordinating a circle of care related to a chronic illness. This article examines the context of anticipatory grief as a framework for addressing HIV as a chronic illness. A spectrum of strategies are provided for coping with anticipatory grief and multiple losses related to providing services to those HIV/AIDS infected.

Loss In Translation: A Model For Therapeutic Engagement And Intervention With Grieving Clients, Shelley Cohen Konrad

Social Work Faculty Publications

Bearing witness to grief is about accepting and experiencing suffering as an unavoidable aspect of loss. It also entails listening to and responding with clients in a way that affirms that their experiences have been heard and understood. This article describes a model for therapeutic engagement and intervention with grieving clients. The model is informed by contemporary grief and practice theories characterized by such qualities as emotional presence, reciprocity, responsiveness, empathic expression, and meaning making. Case examples from the author’s research and practice experience illustrate how these qualities contribute to what she describes as translational relationships that lead to transformations …