Comprehensive Analysis of Dementia and Bereavement Support Strategies

This report provides a detailed analysis of significant life events, specifically focusing on dementia and bereavement. It begins by defining these events and outlining their psychological, social, and physical impacts on individuals. The report then explores the responses of groups and the broader imp...Read More

SUPPORTING
SIGNIFICANT LIFE
EVENTS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Life event can be defined as any major changes which takes place in the life of the person
or an individual which affects the way of living of person is termed as life events. These life
events can be either positive or can be negative such as interpersonal relationships, recreational
and fun activities, can be positive (Banerjee and Bloom, 2015). On the other hand death of some
family member, loss of job, can be negative. The following study will be done on some
significant life events like dementia and bereavement on the life of person. The report will start
by analysing the social, physical and psychological impact of both dementia and bereavement on
the individual suffering from it. Next it will discuss the response of group relating to these life
events. Further it will analyse the impact for others in health and social care when an individual
faces life events.
Next it will evaluate the effectiveness of companies policies in supporting individual
when they face significant life events. Next it will outline how others in social network provides
support to person facing life events like dementia and bereavement. Further it will analyse all the
possible response which the organization can provide in order to help and support individual
facing life events. After that it will outline the personal contribution in support of person facing
dementia and bereavement. At last the report will make some suggestion for improving the
conditions of people facing life events.
MAIN BODY
1.1 Psychological, social and physical impact on individual suffering from dementia and
bereavement
Dementia refers to as a disease which is related to loss or decline of mental ability which
is that severe that the person is not able to perform its daily life functions. The most common
type of dementia is memory loss. On the other hand, bereavement can be defined as grief or it
can also be discussed as a time period of mourning which the person has after the loss or death of
their loved ones (Krause and Pargament, 2018).
Psychological- the psychological impact of dementia and bereavement on the person
suffering is that the person goes in depression, agitation, physical aggression, suffers from
psychosis which includes person having hallucinations that is seeing or hearing things which are
actually not happening and also suffers from delusions which means having some false beliefs.

Social- socially the impact of dementia and bereavement is very harmful for both the
sufferer and people living around them. This is majorly because of the reason that caring for a
person suffering from a life event is very challenging task (Marselle, Warber and Irvine, 2019).
This is because of the reason that person suffering from life events loses their ability to
communicate and to carry on their daily routine activities. Other social impacts includes factors
like reduction of working hours or even loss of job, loss in relationships, friends and families.
Physical- the physical impact of dementia and bereavement on the individual is majorly
on the health of the person who is suffering. The physical impact can be body related like person
experiencing some jerky movements, also some might lose the appetite and also sometimes they
become choosy and picky relating to food products they eat. Another physical impact is that they
face lack of sleep.
1.2 Group response to significant life events
The surrounding and the ambiance play a major role at time when an individual is
suffering from life events such as dementia and bereavement. The person within the group who
is suffering from diseases like dementia and bereavement must be treated very nicely and
respectfully. The group members need to support the person or individual with much patience
and care because the individual is in condition of memory loss where he is not able to remember
all the things relating to his life, corporate world, and all the related aspects of his life. Group
members must respond to the person's situation in the following ways-
The first thing that group members must do is that in order to find early symptoms of the
diseases and then try to find some solutions to the problem of that individual so that it may help
him in recovering the person from his health status. Another thing which the group members
must do is to make the person suffering from life events feel happy and comfortable. It is the
duty of the group members to create a happy and joyful atmosphere so that the individual can be
happy and relaxed at the workplace.
Another way in which the group members can respond is by identifying factors which
accompany physical illness and try to treat the individual by some ways so that their disease can
be cured on a rapid pace (Crawford, Thompson and Ashforth, 2019). At this time the individual
suffering from life events might face some challenges and problems so the group members must
be very supportive and helpful with the person suffering with specific life events.
1.3 Impact for others when an individual has dementia and bereavement

When an individual is suffering from dementia and bereavement then other people and
group members interacting with them must be very helpful and adjustable with the person
suffering from dementia and bereavement (Phillips, Carroll and Der, 2015). Some ways in which
others can react and help the person suffering with life events are as follows-
Reassure and comfort- the first and foremost thing that a person must do to help
individual suffering from dementia and bereavement is to approach the person in a very calm and
relaxing and soothing way so that the person suffering is comfortable and secure with the other
group members. Comforting the person suffering is very necessary because if the person will be
hyper or tensed then the problem of him will be more. So it is very necessary to comfort him.
Avoid reasoning and explanations- this is yet another way of dealing with person
suffering. Under this way any arguments with the sufferer is avoided and ignored. This is
because of the major reason that trying to use logics and reasons in front of individual suffering
from dementia and bereavement is useless because they are nit in state of understanding those
logics and reasons.
Agree, redirect and distract- this is yet another way which can be used in dealing with
people suffering. Under this method the group members must agree to what the person is saying
and try to redirect him on new topic. This is because of the reason that the person suffering is not
in proper state of mind and does not know what he is saying or doing. So it is the duty of others
to agree to what he is saying though he might be wrong. And then try to distract the person form
what he said. This can be done with help of redirection where the group members must change
the topic and redirects the sufferer.
2.1 Effectiveness of policies and procedures within a company in supporting individuals and
their social events
The organization must also use some policies and procedures and practices which the
company must use in supporting the individuals suffering from social events like dementia and
bereavement (Marselle, Warber and Irvine, 2019). Some policies used by different companies
are as follows-
Company must follow a policy under which the company protects the employees which
suffers with significant life events like dementia and bereavement. Protection can be in form of
any type like protecting from any abuse or negligence by the person suffering from memory loss
or from grief. The companies must have some special department which must focus only on the

person suffering form some special significant life events (Steeger, Cook and Connell, 2017).
Also, the company must hire a team of some special doctors and nurses who are readily available
at the workplace to meet any contingency at any time within the working hours. Also, another
thing which company can use in order to help and support sufferer of significant life events like
dementia and bereavement is to make certain specific support group for those helping those
people who are hired to take care of the individual suffering from either dementia or
bereavement or any other significant life events.
To empower the people who are suffering from life events by providing them assistance
in form of finance because if the sufferer is the only earning member in the family then the
company needs to provide help in terms of finance so that the person can live its life
independently. The organizational policies must include some measures to arrange for some
recreational activities which needs to be conducted in order to make the sufferer of dementia and
bereavement and other significant life events is very necessary in order to make the person feel
relaxed and light.
2.2 Ways in which others in social network provide support to bereaved individual
Bereaved individual is a person who is suffering from grief which can be due to many
reason like death of loved ones, relationship breakdown, not having support from family and
many other reasons. But the other people in the social network can help the individual suffering
from bereavement in many ways. Some ways in which other members of social network can help
are as follows-
Be a good listener- the other members in the group must be a good listener because the
bereaved person will share its thoughts and views relating to the grief of the individual. By
having a good listener, the sufferer can share its pain with that person and by sharing the pain he
will become relieved and light as his feelings have been shared with others (Phillips, Carroll and
Der, 2015).
Accept mood swings- it is possible that the bereaved person might not in a good mood
and also at some time he might be happy and joyful. These are known as mood swings and these
occur because the bereaved person might face many emotional ups and downs. So the other
people must respect the mood swings of the bereaved.
Avoid giving advices- this is a major thing which other people within the social network
can do to help the bereaved in overcoming its problem of grief (Clark, Chatterjee and Melia,

2016). If the person from social network gives advice and suggestions to the bereaved then it
might be possible that the sufferer might think that the other person is making fun of him.
2.3 Suitability of external sources in support for those suffering for bereaved and those with
dementia
There are many types of external sources established for helping people who are
suffering from dementia and bereavement. External sources are some established association or
authorities which are established in order to help those people who are suffering from dementia
or bereavement. Some external authorities and establishments in assisting people suffering from
dementia and bereavement are discussed in the adjoining points below-
Dementia UK- it is a charity organization at the national level which is made in order to
improvise the quality of life of the individuals who are suffering from dementia. This association
is made in order to provide support, advice and help to the families of the sufferer and the other
people who come in contact with the sufferer. This help is provided by admiral nurses and the
experts of dementia.
Cruse bereavement care- it is a support organization for bereavement which helps both
the children and adults situated in United Kingdom. This association provides one- on- one
support to any person or individual who is suffering from bereavement. It offers understanding
and encouragement along with support to person in getting over from the bereavement.
Grief encounter- it is a system designed in order to support the children suffering from
bereavement and their families in order to support and help in overcoming the pain caused to the
family due to death of someone close. It is a website which provides for attractive support pages
I order to deviate the mind and thinking of the bereaved person and its family. Also, this
association is also readily available to help the bereaved on the phone calls or with the help of
email and social networking sites or even with the help of online chatting (Bowker, Santo and
Adams, 2019).
SADS UK- SADS stands for Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS) is a cardiac
charity established at the national level in United Kingdom. It is an establishment which helps
and supports those people, individuals and families which have experienced unexpected death of
their beloved ones. This authority has hired some qualified counsellors which help the sufferer to
regain back to its normal life and to forget the incidence of death (Iacovino, Bogdan and
Oltmanns, 2016).

3.1 Possible organization's response to the needs and requirements to support individual
experiencing significant life events
Any time anywhere a person can encounter with some diseases which can impact their
life at the workplace. So it is very necessary for the company to make sure that it has all the
necessary requirements to support those employees who suffer from such diseases like dementia
or bereavement. The company can must open a special department especially set up to help and
guide all the employees that how they have to deal with the people suffering from any significant
life events. Also, the company must have some special doctors and nurses being hired within the
workplace so that all the people at workplace have safety.
3.2 Personal contribution to support of individual suffering from life events
I personally feel that suffering from problems like dementia and bereavement is very
difficult for a person as in these cases the person suffers with memory losses or are in situation of
grief. So for this it is very necessary that all the surroundings and environment of the person
suffering must be happy and stressless so that the sufferer can live its life without any tension.
Another thing which other person can do is interact with the sufferer in a very calm and relaxing
and soothing way in order to make sure that the person suffering is comfortable and secure with
the other group members (Love, 2018).
3.3 Recommendations for improving support available in social and health care organization
for individuals and their networks
Some recommendations for improving the support available to the individual sufferer are
as follows-
Medical management- the person looking after the sufferer must properly manage all the
records of the person in proper way because the medical records are very necessary for knowing
the status of the persons' health.
Positive attitude- Another way is to set a positive attitude of the sufferer. It is possible
that because of the problem the sufferer may develop some negative thoughts and feelings
relating to life. So in this case the carer of the individual suffering is very necessary to develop a
positive attitude of the person so that he can live his life in optimistic way.
Relaxed environment- another way to support the individual suffering from significant
life events like dementia or bereavement is to create a much relaxed and soothing environment

for the sufferer. This is done in order to make sure that the sufferer is free from any bad
environment or any bad news.
Promote fun activities- it is yet another method thorough which a person can support the
individual suffering from significant life events like dementia or bereavement. This is majorly
because of the reason that if the sufferer will be busy in these fun filled activities than they will
not get fact in mind that they are suffering from any life event. Involvement in these fun
activities will distract the person from its sufferings.
CONCLUSION
With the help of the study and analysis of the report it can be concluded that life events
refers to some happening or any changes which occurs in the life of person and affects the
person's life either in helpful or not helpful way. The life events can be either expected or
unexpected. The expected life events are such which the person knows or expects to have
occurred like death, it is expected that one or the other day a person has to die. On the flip side,
unexpected events are like which the person has never expected to happen like accidents.
The present report helped in knowing that the major life event are dementia which means
memory loss and the other is bereavement which means grief due to some unexpected events.
The report majorly focused on the social, physical and psychological impact of the disease on the
individual suffering from it. Further it assisted in knowing the response of the other group
members in relation to how they react to person suffering from dementia or bereavement. Next it
outlined the impact which others have for the individual who is suffering from bereavement or
dementia like comfort and reassure them, avoid much explanation to them as they are not in
correct mind frame and many other things.
Further it discussed some policies and procedures which the company must follow in
supporting the sufferers like hiring a medical team within the company, creating happy
environment for the sufferer and many other steps can be taken. Next it discussed some ways
which can be employed by the other people living around the sufferer in order to help them in
facing the problem such as to be a good listener or to avoid giving them advices and to accept
their mood swings and many other ways. Furthermore, it displayed some different types of
external sources developed to provide support to people suffering from dementia and
bereavement and other life events. These authorities are like Dementia UK, or Cruse
Bereavement Care, Grief encounter or SADS UK. Further the report outlined some possible

response that organization have in support of sufferer. At last the report will discuss the
reflection of personal contribution and some recommendations for improving the status of
sufferers.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Banerjee, K. and Bloom, P., 2015. “Everything happens for a reason”: Children's beliefs about
purpose in life events. Child Development. 86(2). pp.503-518.
Bowker, J.C., Santo, J.B. and Adams, R.E., 2019. A dynamic examination of the associations
between shyness, psychological difficulties, and stressful life events during early
adolescence. Journal of abnormal child psychology, pp.1-13.
Clark, B., Chatterjee, K. and Melia, S., 2016. Changes to commute mode: The role of life events,
spatial context and environmental attitude. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and
Practice. 89. pp.89-105.
Crawford, W.S., Thompson, M.J. and Ashforth, B.E., 2019. Work-life events theory: Making
sense of shock events in dual-earner couples. Academy of Management Review. 44(1). pp.194-
212.
Iacovino, J.M., Bogdan, R. and Oltmanns, T.F., 2016. Personality predicts health declines
through stressful life events during late mid‐life. Journal of personality. 84(4). pp.536-546.
Krause, N. and Pargament, K.I., 2018. Reading the Bible, stressful life events, and hope:
Assessing an overlooked coping resource. Journal of religion and health. 57(4). pp.1428-1439.
Love, B., 2018. The cycle of relapse and recovery of substance misusing offenders on a
community based rehabilitation programme: The impact of childhoods, family, relationships,
significant life events and psychological wellbeing: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
and approach (Doctoral dissertation, University of Surrey).
Marselle, M.R., Warber, S.L. and Irvine, K.N., 2019. Growing Resilience through Interaction
with Nature: Can Group Walks in Nature Buffer the Effects of Stressful Life Events on Mental
Health?. International journal of environmental research and public health. 16(6). p.986.
Phillips, A.C., Carroll, D. and Der, G., 2015. Negative life events and symptoms of depression
and anxiety: Stress causation and/or stress generation. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping. 28(4). pp.357-
371.
Steeger, C.M., Cook, E.C. and Connell, C.M., 2017. The interactive effects of stressful family
life events and cortisol reactivity on adolescent externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Child
Psychiatry & Human Development. 48(2). pp.225-234.