How do we build systems to better meet complex needs not identified until years after a life-changing event such as the death of someone close? [18,19] Importantly, the study identifies a group of people who have not accessed services, but believe that

this could have been of benefit to them. Most case series are based around people who have sought help or people who are likely to be bereaved in the foreseeable future as identified through case lists from clinical services [20,21]. The population of people not seeking help from bereavement services Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical has been difficult to identify and hence poorly studied until now. Studies to date have failed to capture the whole target population because of the systematic exclusion of potential respondents. The group thus omitted is of particular concern to planners of bereavement services as they are currently not receiving any support. By contrast, the study also highlights that the majority of people deal with bereavement without explicit family or Wnt inhibitor professional help [22-24].

Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical What other literature do these data support? Of the data available in the literature, bereavement help-seeking [25] in Utah saw 11.5% of respondents seek professional help for their grief [25] but the study had a low response rate. Connor studied bereavement help seeking in a population of users of hospice care and found 16% subsequently used professional services [26]. An Australian study [27] reported bereavement help seeking as it Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical relates to culture and religion. In that study 3.3% of people sought psychiatric or psychological help and a much higher number (23%) sought medical or pharmaceutical help for bereavement. Health service utilization in this setting is a complex relationship that may not reflect need. [28] Why do the studies in the literature have such widely varying rates of professional help seeking for bereavement?

The difference is most Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical likely the denominator. The current study approached a representative random sample of the population older than 15 years of age. The other studies have focused on contacting people already who have already been identified by their use of health services. Levels of accessing professional support and unmet need The population numbers of people needing professional help reflect proposed models of bereavement support services [28]. Even adding together those who sought help, and those who perceive that they would benefit from professional help would increase to only 6% of all the bereaved those people would access professional help with their grief after experiencing a recent ‘expected’ death of someone close. This is a 40% increase over current levels of help sought from a professional. Factors found to be predictive of professional help seeking for bereavement ‘Moving on’ is a consistent predictor of help seeking.