Loss and Bereavement: Supporting People with Learning Disabilities and Staff Teams – Award-Winning Co-Produced Training

Supporting People with Learning Disabilities and Staff Teams through Loss and Bereavement
Award-Winning Co-Produced Interactive Online Workshop

Our award-winning co-produced and co-delivered ARC England online virtual training workshop in association with MacIntyre’s Dying To Talk team and featuring Expert by Experience, Jess Hiles.

How do I talk about loss and bereavement with a person I support who has a learning disability?

How do I support a person with a learning disability experiencing loss?

How do I cope with a death in my service as a staff member?

How do I work best with families when their relative has died?

Join Expert by Experience Jess Hiles, MacIntyre’s Best Practice Manager Nicola Payne and Freelance Consultant and Trainer Beth Britton for an interactive workshop looking at how to support a person with a learning disability who has/is experiencing loss and bereavement, and how to support staff teams when a person they support has died.

Throughout 2021-2022 MacIntyre ran a highly successful Dying to Talk Project and have built up a wealth of experience in talking about and understanding death, dying and bereavement. This training has been co-designed by Jess, Nicola and Beth to be informative, thought-provoking and practical to leave learners with tips and advice to implement within their services.

Double award-winning team “A force to be reckoned with!”

Jess, Beth and Nicola were double winners at the 2024 Palliative and End of Life Care Awards.

Bereavement Support Award Winner: MacIntyre and ARC England
The judges said: “A force to be reckoned with! This collaborative sets the standard for project delivery in the industry, boldly improving end-of-life and palliative care conversations. Their strong relationship demonstrates their commitment and passion.”

Workforce Development Award Winner: Jess Hiles, Beth Britton and Nicola Payne
The judges said: “This team introduced bespoke loss and bereavement training across their services, demonstrating a deep commitment to meeting service users’ needs. Their innovative training is a sector first and has received exceptional feedback.”

Virtual workshop (by Zoom)

Who is it for? 

This training would suit staff who have experienced a death within their service and are looking for information on how best to support peers, friends and family members, as well as how to cope as a staff team. You may also want to attend if you want to prepare for coping with loss and bereavement in the future.

It will be suitable for frontline staff, managers and team leaders, and provide opportunities to share your experiences as well as learning from the training team and other attendees. The training team are mindful that this is a sensitive subject, and will provide pastoral care to anyone who feels distressed during the workshop.

Brief outline of content:

• The hows and whys of breaking bad news
• Real-world experiences of loss
• Emotions and different types of loss
• Coping mechanisms and support ideas
• Stages of grief and grieving in different ways
• Working with healthcare professionals and families
• How staff might experience bereavement when a person in their service dies
• Supporting staff with personal bereavement
• Resources to help

Expected learning outcomes:

• To know why we should talk to people with a learning disability about loss and bereavement.
• To understand the many different examples of ‘loss’.
• To have practical skills to support a person with a learning disability with their loss.
• To have an awareness of grief cycles.
• To feel confident working with other professionals.
• To feel confident working with families who are bereaved.
• To be able to support colleagues and teams through bereavement.

On completion of our workshop evaluation form we will be happy to issue attendees with a Certificate of Attendance.

In-house workshops

We also offer this workshop on an in-house basis exclusively for your organisation which will be delivered online for up to 20 of your staff per session, at a cost of £1300 (ARC England members) or £1400 (non-members).