Understanding and responding to adults bereaved following a drug or alcohol-related death

Walter, Tony and Valentine, Christine (2018). Understanding and responding to adults bereaved following a drug or alcohol-related death. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-852040

This two phase qualitative study aims to provide new understanding of the experiences of individuals bereaved through substance misuse and to identify their support needs in order to inform service design and delivery. The first phase of the research will involve in-depth interviews with bereaved family members in England and Scotland. The second phase will engage groups of bereavement and substance misuse professionals, practitioners and service users in developing, testing and validating new practice guidelines. These guidelines will inform and assist support services’ staff in more adequately addressing the needs of this group of bereaved people.

Data description (abstract)

Qualitative data from 100 in-depth Interviews with 106 adults (including 6 couples) bereaved following a drug or alcohol-related death. The research is being led by researchers in the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath who have experience in conducting research on bereavement. Other members of the research team are based at the University of Stirling and have experience in addiction studies. A bereaved family member will also be part of the research team. The study aims to make a significant contribution to the bereavement and substance misuse literature, raise awareness of issues faced by those suffering this type of loss and inform evidence-based practice guidelines.

Data creators:

Creator Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Walter Tony	University of Bath
Valentine Christine	University of Bath

Contributors:

Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Templeton Lorna	University of Bath
McKell Jennifer	University of Stirling
Ford Allison	University of Stirling
Velleman Richard	University of Bath
Hay Gordon	Liverpool John Moore University
Bauld Linda	University of Stirling

Sponsors:

Economic and Social Research Council

Grant reference:

ES/J007366/1

Topic classification:

Social welfare policy and systems
Health
Society and culture

Keywords:

bereavement, drug or alcohol-related deaths, stigma, services, five key messages

Project title:

Understanding and Responding to Families and Individuals bereaved by their relatives drug or alcohol-related death

Grant holders:

Tony Walter

Project dates:

From	To
10 September 2012	9 September 2015

Date published:

09 Dec 2015 14:52

Last modified:

05 Oct 2018 14:39

Coverage and Methodology

Temporal coverage:

From	To
4 March 2013	4 November 2013

Collection period:

Date from:	Date to:
10 September 2012	9 September 2015

Geographical area:

England and Scotland

Country:

United Kingdom

Data collection method:

Interviewees were recruited via local and national services, including drug and alcohol treatment services, generic bereavement services, and the few services in each study area offering specific support for substance use bereavement. Initial recruitment relied upon participant self-selection and convenience sampling. Once interviewing was underway, snowball and, later, purposive sampling were used to increase diversity, for example, including bereaved individuals who were themselves in treatment for or recovery from substance use. The resulting sample of 106 (including 6 couples) was diverse in age, relationship to the deceased, time since death and personal experience of substance use,Interviews were audio recorded and fully transcribed. A coding frame of the key areas covered in the interviews was developed to guide a detailed thematic analysis, aided by NVivo, version 10 (see topic guide).

Observation unit:

Individual

Kind of data:

Text

Type of data:

Qualitative and mixed methods data

Resource language:

English

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