‘I'm not the only one’: a collaborative approach to developing a children and young person's bereavement group

Abstract

This paper describes a collaborative partnership in developing a children and young persons’ bereavement group. The course consists of a series of four sessions which encourage children to share and express feelings. The group uses a partnership approach. Whereas previous groups were hospice counsellor-led, the new model is for co-facilitation by the counsellor and a specialist nurse from a regional oncology centre. The success of this collaborative partnership has been demonstrated through the positive evaluations from both the children and their families and the facilitators. In addition, both facilitators feel that their own clinical practice has been positively influenced by the children's sharing of their own personal experience of illness and bereavement.

Keywords:

• children
• bereavement group
• collaborative working