THE CHALLENGE OF EVALUATING A CHILD BEREAVEMENT PROGRAM

This paper will discuss the challenge of evaluating the efficacy of ch ild bereavement services. Such services are being developed and it is essential that expansion is based on research and evaluation. A litera ture review details the limited research which has so far been conduct ed on such interventions. The paper then addresses four key components regarding child bereavement programme evaluation: preliminary evaluat ion of the Winston's Wish programme; the feasibility and validity of u sing an experimental method in the evaluation of child bereavement ser vices; the identification of appropriate measures - what are we really attempting to measure with regard to child bereavement interventions; and the importance of measuring the family dynamics of grief - how ca n we incorporate the Dual Process Model?