The Danish Bereavement Response in 2015—Historic Development and Evaluation of Success

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the 1980s, Norwegian researchers pioneered efforts towards developing school support for bereaved children. Eighteen years later, a Danish approach was created based on these foundations. This article explores the Danish school bereavement response plans (b-plans) and investigates their ability to support both teachers and bereaved children. Today, the system has one of the highest implementation rates in the world and the majority of teachers feel equipped to deal with bereavement in school. Nevertheless, adopting a standardised approach potentially leads to the neglect of individual needs. Moreover, concerns exist over whether existing b-plans are current. This article concludes that b-plans have succeeded in becoming the primary tool used by teachers, a feat that systems in other countries often fail to achieve. However, the system seldom includes the perspectives of the students it was designed to help. This is the challenge that the next generation of b-plans must remedy.