Effecting positive change with bereaved service users in a hospice setting.

ABSTRACT

User involvement is now an internationally established feature of health and social care, service planning and delivery. This paper discusses the background context of user involvement as a prelude to describing the processes pursued in changing communication systems for bereaved service users. This qualitative study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of service user experiences of an adult bereavement group in a hospice setting in Northern Ireland. The key focus of the study was the development of a bereavement information leaflet. To achieve this, a one-off focus group meeting with seven users who were purposively selected based on their previous experience of bereavement services was held. The findings are presented using a thematic content analysis approach. These illustrate the experiences of service users and their recommendations, which informed the content and language of a new information leaflet. This paper demonstrates how service user participation can inform changes to service delivery in a manner that avoids the potential for consultation fatigue and tokenism.