Child, adolescent and families: Grief and loss in disaster – Information for professionals

This resource provides information for professionals on the common patterns of grief in children and families in the context of disasters. It specfically provides information and examples of supportive strategies to assist young children or young people in a school setting and also information about vulnerability indicators that may require further assessment.

The term ‘disaster’ refers to a range of disasters to which children and families may be exposed, including bushfires, floods, cyclones and other man made disasters.

It includes information on the following topics:

• ‘Patterns of grief’
• ‘Families and grief’
• ‘Children of different ages’
• ‘Key principles of support for children and adolescents’
• ‘Many losses, many griefs, many traumas, much courage’
• ‘Grief pathology’
• ‘Grief, loss and the future’