MyGrief an online source for grief and bereavement support

The Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement (www.grief.org.au), which is funded by the Department of Health to operate the State-wide Specialist Bereavement Service, has recently launched a free mobile app in Australia, the US and the UK. Designed to provide access to information and practical strategies for bereaved people and those who are supporting them, the MyGrief app is designed to empower bereaved people to self-manage their experience of loss to the greatest extent possible and to give those supporting the bereaved, information about how to do so appropriately and effectively.

With the support of family, friends and information found online, most people have the capacity to find their way through the pain of loss without the need of formal intervention.  For approximately 7% of the bereaved population, their experience of loss becomes persistent, disabling and frequently isolating.

The Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement now have the tools to identify those people whose grief has become deeply disabling and whose pain remains raw and unchanged from the earliest point in their loss. Individuals with complex needs tend to face the greatest number of barriers to accessing bereavement support. The MyGrief app is an important means of reducing the barriers to accessing that support.

The section for the bereaved includes information on the grief experience but also invites the bereaved person to manage and understand their grief by completing a series of questions. The answers to these questions will then lead to a tailored list of strategies. The MyGrief app questionnaire can identify areas that the user might be struggling with and provides strategies and pathways for help.

The section of the MyGrief app for those who are supporting the bereaved, gives information on how to provide emotional and practical support to a bereaved person, in the first few days after a death and into the longer term. It also has sections on the special bereavement support needs of children and adolescents and importantly, includes a video of bereaved people talking about their experience.

The MyGrief app importantly, goes one step further than just educating and making people aware of bereavement, to actually giving information about how to take steps towards caring for themselves, receiving the support they need and also caring for others.

The MyGrief App is available at http://bit.ly/mygrief for both the Apple and Android smartphone platforms.

The Australian Centre for Grief acknowledges the financial support of Gandel Philanthropy and The Jack Brockoff Foundation in the development of this innovative resource.