‘Cumulative grief’ affects grandparents

GRANDPARENTS who lose a grandchild suffer a form of ‘cumulative grief’, according to a study into the impact of child death.

In the first study of its kind, the Irish Hospice Foundation is funding the research on the grief experiences of bereaved grandparents.

Preliminary findings from the Forgotten Grievers: An Exploration of the Grief Experiences of Grandparents will be presented today at the Forum on End of Life in Ireland in Dublin.

The researchers, Tom O’Grady and Ursula Gilrane-McGarry, said the research was “significant” as it explores the manner in which grandparents grieve the loss of their grandchildren, in addition to the identification of their needs and their required supports.

Ms Gilrane-McGarry said: “Previous anecdotal literature suggests that grandparents’ grief is unique in that they experience the ‘double pain’ of loss of their grandchild in addition to observing the pain of their own adult child’s grief.

“The preliminary findings of the study provide further insight into the nature and type of grief/pain experienced,” she said. “The current study indicates that grandparents experience ‘cumulative pain’.

“What this term encapsulates is the combination of many sources of grief. These are ‘the collective pain associated with their previous losses/bereavements’; ‘the pain associated with losing their grandchild’; ‘the pain/emotions associated with observing the pain of their own adult child’s grief’; ‘the pain associated with subsequent changes in their adult child’ and finally ‘pain common to all grief’, for example, the emotions of shock ... and possible regrets.”