Service failures and challenges in responding to people bereaved through drugs and alcohol: An interprofessional analysis

Figures & data

Table 1. Sample characteristics of interviewees (N = 100 interviews).

Number of interviews	Total Sample (N = 100)	England (N = 66)^1	Scotland (N = 34)^2
	Interviewees = 106	Interviewees = 71	Interviewees = 35
	Deceased = 102	Deceased = 66	Deceased = 36
Gender of interviewee	Female = 79	Female = 49	Female = 30
	Male = 27	Male = 22	Male = 5
Interviewee mean age at time of interview	52 years (range 22–75 years)	51 years (range 22–75 years)	54 years (range 23–75 years)
Ethnic status of interviewee	Majority of interviewees defined themselves as White British	60 White British, 4 English/Scottish/Welsh, 3 White Irish, 2 White European and 2 Mixed	All defined themselves as Scottish or White British
Interviewee in treatment or recovery or neither	In treatment = 12	In treatment = 9	In treatment = 3
	In recovery = 9	In recovery = 6	In recovery = 3
Gender of deceased	Male = 78	Male = 47	Male = 31
	Female = 24	Female = 19	Female = 5
Mean age of deceased	38 years (range 16–84 years)	41 years (range 16–84 years)	33 years (range 16–80 years)
Ethnic status of deceased	Majority of deceased White British	57 defined deceased as White British, 3 English, 4 White Irish, 1 White European and 1 Mixed	All defined themselves as Scottish or White British
Relationship of interviewee to deceased	Parent = 56	Parent = 30	Parent = 26
	Child = 21	Child = 19 (includes 1 adopted child)	Partner or ex-partner/spouse = 4
	Spouses/partners (includes exes) = 13	Spouses/partners = 9 (includes 1 ex-spouses or partners and 1 LGB partner	Sibling = 4
	Siblings = 13	Sibling = 9 (includes 2 step-siblings)	Child = 2
	Friends = 6	Friend = 5	Niece = 1
	Nieces = 3	Niece = 2	Friend = 1
Mean time since death^3	96.2 months (approx. 8 years). Range 1 month to over 30 years	94 months (approx. 7.8 years). Range 1–406 months (approx. 34 years)	101 months (approx. 8.4 years). Range 3–291 months (approx. 24 years)

Table 2. Sample characteristics of focus group participants (n = 40).

Number of practitioners and/or bereaved	Total (n = 40)	England (n = 28)	Scotland (n = 12)^a
Gender
Female	24	18	6
Male	16	10	6
Occupational groupings
Police	4	3	1
Coroner or Procurator Fiscal Service and related	5	3	2
Substance use, treatment and support services	5	5	1
Family support services and organisations	8	6	2
Bereavement support services and organisations	5	4	1
NHS and health-related services	3	2	1
Funeral services	3	2	1
Government and related bodies	2	0	2
Media	1	1	0
Clergy	2	1	1
Other^b	1	1	0
Bereaved through substance use (n = 8)
Parent		2
Child		3
Spouse		3
Friend		1

^aNone of the participants included in the two Scottish focus groups were bereaved through substance use.

^bOne participant was included because of their personal experience of substance use related bereavement and so categorisation according to occupation is not appropriate.