“It’s a Living Experience”: Bereavement by Suicide in Later Life
Open accessAbstract
Bereavement by suicide for people in later life is significantly under-researched. Research on ageing and suicide has yet to address the experiences of those bereaved by suicide and how such a devastating loss affects the ageing experience. Objectives: We explored the substantive issues involved in bereavement by suicide and its impact on later life. Methods: This was a co-produced qualitative study. Peer researchers with lived experience conducted in-depth interviews with twenty-four people aged 60–92 years. A phenomenological approach informed the data analysis. Main Findings: Themes described included (1) moral injury and trauma; (2) the rippling effect on wider family and networks; (3) transitions and adaptations of bereaved people and how their ‘living experience’ impacted on ageing. Conclusions: It is important to understand how individual experiences of suicide intersect with ageing and the significance of targeted assessment and intervention for those bereaved by suicide in ageing policies and support.
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In later life, suicide bereavement disrupts anticipated aging trajectories and intensifies loneliness and social isolation.
“In later life, suicide bereavement has been shown to disrupt anticipated aging trajectories and intensify loneliness and social isolation, indicating the need for age-sensitive and proactive support (Hafford-Letchfield et al., 2022;2023).”
From Relational and Institutional Disenfranchisement in Suicide Bereavement: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis of Family Members' Experiences (2026) · cites this paper as Hafford-Letchfield et al., 2022
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Romão, M. E., Gündoğan, S., Baptista, M. N., & Barello, S. (2026) · Archives of Suicide Research · doi:10.1080/13811118.2026.2690232
- Authors
- Hafford-Letchfield, T., Hanna, J., Grant, E., Ryder-Davies, L., Cogan, N., Goodman, J., Rasmussen, S., & Martin, S.
- Affiliations
- School of Social Work and Social Policy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK
- University of Strathclyde (GB)
- Mental Health Foundation (GB)
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-06-13
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 7217
- ISSN
- 1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9223552
- OpenAlex
- W4282572809
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 2.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Ulster University Research Portal (Ulster University) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- Strathprints: The University of Strathclyde institutional repository (University of Strathclyde) (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- the University of Strathclyde
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Keywords
- old age, aging, moral injury, trauma, family impact, peer researchers, lived experience, bereavement support, aging policy
- MeSH terms
- Aging, Bereavement, Grief, Humans, Suicide, Qualitative Research
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