There's no vaccine for all of the pain caused by COVID
A national grief strategy is needed, say Maxxine Rattner and Marney Thompson.
The holiday season is often a difficult time for those grieving the death of someone they care about. That aching absence will be felt more deeply this year for more than two million bereaved Canadians grieving deaths from all causes, both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19.
In a pandemic, bereaved Canadians struggle with the impacts of loss and grief, separated from friends and family who provide solace and support. Holiday traditions and rituals used to support each other and honour people who have died are suspended, creating barriers to a healthy grief process. Canadians are grieving an abundance of other losses, including financial security, sense of community, physical connection, relationships, and so much more.
Three seasons into this pandemic, there has been no comprehensive government response to the growing “crisis within a crisis” of grief. Since May, the Canadian Grief Alliance (CGA) has been calling for a national grief strategy, a public health, prevention-based approach to the serious mental health outcomes that can arise when pandemic-related and affected grief is left unsupported.
Government spending on mental health services since the pandemic's start has not directly included or addressed the unique and growing needs of grieving Canadians. Grief — our natural response to a significant loss — is not a mental health condition.
The federal government launched a Wellness Together website near the start of the pandemic. It does not include content appropriate for grievers. Messages like “change your feelings,” “think optimistically,” and “behave your way to success” may mislead grieving individuals to believe they aren't grieving “right,” causing further suffering. When the government says it helps grieving Canadians with its pandemic-related mental health investments, we respectfully but firmly reply with a resounding, “How?”
As grief specialists and members of the CGA, the reality paints a very different picture. Our cross-country patchwork of highly-skilled grief support services and programs that were largely under-resourced before the pandemic is now bursting at the seams, trying to meet skyrocketing demands. In many parts of the country, there are long wait lists or a complete absence of grief-specific services.
Without sufficient grief support programs and services, Canadians' mental health risks will increase. While grief is not a mental health condition, unsupported grief can turn into a mental health condition such as depression and suicidal thinking. And due to the circumstances of COVID-19, there is a far greater risk of grief being unsupported.
Racialized communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic are likely the same communities to be disproportionately impacted by grief.
The need for publicly funded, culturally responsive grief support programs that centre these communities' needs and voices is particularly significant.
Over 12,000 deaths from COVID-19 so far in Canada, plus just under 220,000 deaths (Statistics Canada, 2019) from other causes, equals nearly 232,000 people, all with their own lives and life stories, who have died since the pandemic's onset.
Multiply that number by nine people grieving that loss = two million Canadians in mourning and actively grieving.
These numbers will only continue to rise as the virus rages on. There is no vaccine for grief.
As we head into the dark days of winter, we urge all levels of government to work together and commit to supporting grieving Canadians.
A national grief strategy will help to prevent the serious mental health outcomes that can occur when there are factors that complicate a grief process.
It will also benefit those grieving any type of loss by providing much needed public health education on grief and grief support strategies. And it will benefit Canadians by investing in research to help us better understand, respond to and support pandemic-related and affected grief.
For those who are grieving through this challenging time: We see you. Please join us in our call for compassion and care for bereaved Canadians. We cannot afford to let another season of loss and grief go by without action. Join the Canadian Grief Alliance's call for a national grief strategy at canadiangriefalliance.ca.