Compassionate Communities for Extraordinary Circumstances: Using diaries to capture bereavement support during the Covid-19 pandemic

This booklet captures the diaries of Cruse Bereavement Volunteers offering bereavement support to clients across the UK or volunteer Bereavement Supporters offering peer support to fellow residents within their ExtraCare Charitable Trust’s retirement village communities in England during lockdown.

It describes ways in which the Covid-19 restrictions have affected grief and bereavement support regardless of whether or not Covid-19 was the actual cause of death and to learn about practices that could be helpful after the pandemic.

The diary project was carried out in partnership with Cruse Bereavement Care, and a major provider of extra care housing, The ExtraCare Charitable Trust, together with researchers at the University of Bristol and Aston University.

The finding will help better understand the impact of the Covid-19 restrictions on ExtraCare’s residents and Cruse’s bereavement support services in relation to death, grief and the way a community supports bereaved people at a time when our experience of grief may be different, and our normal rituals are affected or unavailable on account of coronavirus.