About

As CATS/peer supporters working in their community with families affected by HIV, it is likely they have witnessed and even experienced grief and loss. CATS/peer supporters meet families affected by HIV every day who may have lost family members, neighbours and friends. Working with children in these families, they have a really important role in supporting children and young people around grief and loss. However, they also need to consider their own emotional wellbeing, and be prepared for how grief and loss can affect them. Grief and loss can have impacts on psycho-social wellbeing and it is important that they are able to recognise these and have strategies to support young people during difficult times.

Experiencing grief is a natural and healthy process after losing a loved one but people will experience grief in different ways. Coping with grief and loss is linked to context and culture, how one explains death, how one grieves and how one remembers people. There are different ways people have tried to explain the stages that human beings go through linked to grief and loss. One example describes 5 stages of grief. People can go through and return to any one of these stages at any time.

Grief and loss can have impacts on psycho-social well being and it is important that they are able to recognize these and have strategies to support young people during difficult times.