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Abstract
This article reviews the nature of post-disaster peer support groups and highlights their role in addressing collective grief and trauma following mass fatality incidents. With reference to best practice guidelines for responding to collective trauma events the article highlights the functions of peer support in promoting social support, connectedness and self/community efficacy. Different types of UK-based peer support group are described – from independent user-based action groups to facilitated talking groups as part of wider community support networks. The establishment and delivery of the Manchester Attack Support Group Programme (following the 2017 Manchester Arena terror attack) is discussed as a contemporary example of a network of facilitated talking groups. It complements the participation of bereaved people and survivors in other independent and self-determined peer-based activities such as the Manchester Survivors Choir and terrorism-related campaigns.
Acknowledgements
The Manchester Attack Support Group Programme is being supported by the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.
Notes
4 See for example the London Mental Health Response to Major Incidents: Pathway for First Responders, July 2017 www.healthylondon.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/London-incident-support-pathway-for-first-responders-%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B.pdf
5 Eyre, 2006; Eyre, 2017; Eyre & Dix, 2014.
6 Examples of bereaved family support groups include those set up after the disasters at Zeebrugge, Lockerbie, Hillsborough and the Marchioness riverboat sinking. For details of the decade of disaster see Eyre & Dix, 2014.
7 See McGarry and Smith (2011) for information about the history, purpose and role of police family liaison officers.
8 The presence of the following has been correlated with positive outcomes including increased abilities to successfully decrease stress levels and function adaptively following exposure to extreme stress: promoting a sense of safety; promoting calming; promoting a sense of self-efficacy and community efficacy; promoting connectedness, and instilling hope (Hobfoll et al., 2007).
10 Disaster Action – www.disasteraction.org.uk; see Eyre and Dix (2014).
11 Despite the significant impact of the tsunami on diverse populations, including for example the UK’s Sri Lankan community, this diversity was not reflected in the demographic of those coming forward for help and support services, despite outreach efforts, or in the make-up of TSUK. Our understanding in the case of the UK Sri Lankan community was that strong and supportive family and wider networks may have been one of the reasons for this.
13 As programme manager of the MASGP I work closely with clinical manager Jelena Watkins (http://jelenawatkins.com/about) and we have benefitted much from the counsel and support of our external advisor Professor Atle Dyregrov (www.uib.no/en/persons/Atle.Dyregrov). His expertise in emergency preparedness, bereavement, trauma and crisis management has included extensive work with bereaved and survivors following the 2011 Norway attack.
14 My management role also involves co-ordinating across the support groups and a series of psychosocial workshops for families and young people being delivered by the Manchester Resilience Hub www.penninecare.nhs.uk/your-services/manchester-resilience-hub. Partnership working here helped us to be able to contact our target audience despite information-sharing obstacles and challenges with others.
15 In some cases for example individuals may be helped to access individual therapy or other forms of support to prepare them for joining groups. Our experiences are reinforcing the importance of ensuring that the initial assessment and allocation of individuals to groups is carefully considered and conducted by appropriately qualified professionals. This follows through into the group discussions where the members have found it especially helpful to draw on the facilitators’ knowledge and skills relating to disaster-related trauma.
16 UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP); British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP); British Psychological Society (BPS).
17 Our model of disaster peer support differs from therapy groups in terms of their purpose, openness, facilitator role and relationships between members. While not therapy groups, they are designed to achieve therapeutic effect.
18 The performer that night, Ariana Grande, has a large following among young female fans. This is not to suggest that fathers, brothers, grandparents and other wider family members were not also significantly affected by the bombing, directly and indirectly. An interesting future research question both for Manchester and other disasters is whether or to what extent the appeal of talking groups for those affected by disasters and the wish to connect and share, as opposed to or in addition to the appeal of more action-based groups, is influenced by gender or other social factors.
19 The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, 2018) recognises the value of people sharing common experiences and recommends healthcare professionals tell people about and help them access peer support groups if they want to and could benefit. See nice.org.uk/guidance/ng116; www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng116/evidence/evidence-review-h-principles-of-care-pdf-6602621012
20 These include: Chloe & Liam Together Forever Trust, Megan Hurley Foundation, Eilidh MacLeod Memorial Trust, Liv’s Trust, and the Remembering Nell Foundation.
21 For example the mother of victim Martyn Hett has started a petition calling for increased security measures at public venues. By the second anniversary this had attracted more than 14,000 signatures.
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