The Childhood Bereavement Care Pyramid, a guide to help adults support a child who has been bereaved, was launched by Dr Reilly, the Irish Minister for Children, at the first Irish Conference on childhood bereavement in Dublin Castle.
“Dealing with childhood bereavement is vital, but it hasn’t been given the sort of attention it deserves”, said Dr James Reilly.
Dr Reilly told those present that “28 per cent of children had lost a grandparent by the age of nine, while over 2 per cent had lost a parent. This highlighted the importance of addressing bereavement. Dr Reilly further talked about the potential dangers on a child’s education and mental health, and the importance of offering counselling and support services to help children cope with their grief.
The Childhood Bereavement Care Pyramid was developed by the Irish Children’s Bereavement Network and is aimed at parents, teachers, family members and health professionals. It is planned to be introduced to doctors surgeries, health services and community settings in the coming months.
The issue of the role that social networking sites play in children’s grieving was addressed at the conference. Elaine Kasket, a UK based counselling psychologist, told delegates that social networking sites played a huge role in modern mourning, but bereavement counsellors lacked awareness of this phenomenon. To read the full story, please click here.
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