Bereavement services
The challenge
The Mayor of London and Thrive LDN are looking for innovators to develop solutions to improve bereavement support services for communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
End user co-development will determine specific geographic parameters; example locales in which minority ethnic communities have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 are Newham, Brent and Hackney.
Initial end users for a pilot are Londoners from minority ethnic groups bereaved by COVID-19 or during the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring co-development of specific target end users within this segment, with the expectation that a solution can be expanded to incorporate other types of services and users in the future.
- There were 15,804 deaths occurring in London between 1 March 2020 and 29 January 2021 that involved COVID-19, representing 27 per cent of all deaths occurring over this period (57,921 deaths). (Source: ONS)
- Reviews have revealed that minority ethnic groups are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as those of white ethnicity.
- Minority ethnic communities vary from 13 per cent to 69 per cent across London borough populations; with the worst affected by COVID-19 boroughs are home to many diverse and vibrant communities – such as Newham, Brent and Hackney.
- COVID-19 will continue to have a major impact on the individual and societal experience of death, dying, and bereavement; the restrictions in place have prevented the usual cultural practices and responses to this.
- Barriers to culturally competent bereavement support pre-exist the pandemic but have been exacerbated by the disproportionate COVID-19 mortality rate of Londoners from minority ethnic groups.
The solution
Develop an accessible and culturally competent solution that enables more personalised bereavement guidance and support for Londoners from minority ethnic groups bereaved by, or during COVID-19. The solution should reflect local minority ethnic community history and culture.
Essential:
- led by user needs
- digitally enabled
- accessible and inclusive; easy-to-use and engage with
- sign-posts to specialist support for those experiencing complex grief/ related issues
- provides support to those who have additional grief related needs
- demonstrates impact to potential funders
- research-based, with input from an official psychology body such as the British Psychological Society or the Black and Asian Counselling Psychologists Group
- links to the phase one of the developing GLA Covid-19 bereavement gap analysis (March-April 2021).
Desirable:
- adaptable to other groups (for example within Thrive LDN’s wider remit, or within minority ethnic communities)
- considers a broad range of grief and bereavement experiences.
- Increased understanding of the role and power of cultural practices in responding to grief and bereavement.
- Improved outcomes for Londoners from minority ethnic groups bereaved by COVID-19 or during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Platform can be cheaply maintained past the pilot stage, facilitating wider rollout to different segments within the London-based ethnic minority communities and across different service areas of mental health support more widely.
- Londoners engage with a bereavement and grief support service based on their cultural background.
- 50 per cent of users engage with the platform to connect, share and provide peer support.
- Overcome the complexity of the London eco-system of services.
- Enable more people who need additional support to access appropriate services earlier.
- Enable more people to receive informal support and find the information they need.
Winners and finalists
Each team will receive £10,000 and the opportunity to work closely over five weeks with the Resilience Partner behind their challenge – which include councils, government agencies, BIDs and charities – to develop their solution. They’ll also receive specialised support in service design, pitch coaching, data usage, navigating government procurement processes and more.
At the end of the first phase, the judges will review each team’s progress and choose one winner in each challenge, to be awarded £40,000 each and the chance to implement their solution.
Loss in translation is a peer led grief activism project that aims to empower young people to transform their grief into compassion. Building on our award winning digital health service, Apart of Me, the team will work together with young people from minority ethnic backgrounds, to reduce the risk of complicated grief. They will give them the tools they need to become grief activists, and support others within their community to break through barriers that currently prevent them getting the right help.
“I’m really excited about this challenge because we know that certain marginalised groups tend to suffer worst outcomes in terms of mental health, and this challenge will allow us to really understand how our service can even better support marginalised young people transform their grief into compassion.”
MatchingMind provides Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven matching with mental health and bereavement specialists, suited to minority communities. We match people with mental health specialists based on each person’s unique mix of health needs as well as age, culture, religion, sexual orientation, disabilities, and language requirements.
Through our intelligent matching we reduce trial and error and failures that come from having the wrong fit. This is especially true for support that is culturally sensitive and MatchingMind addresses the problem that 90% of minorities feel that mental healthcare does not adequately take into account their cultural background (research from MIND, 2019).
“We are delighted at this opportunity to work with new partners and engage with diverse communities. This is a chance to learn and grow and contribute to increased wellbeing of our fellow Londoners. MatchingMind’s vision is to democratise care and dissolve boundaries and we build technologies and services to realise that.”
Dr. Bela Prasad
Currently, bereavement support services are hard to access for non-digital, non-English speakers, and word of mouth. The Voxta Voce solution for the Mayors Resilience funds Bereavement Challenge is a 24/7 multilingual bereavement phone assistant helpline. People can call the virtual assistant for bereavement support and callers can choose to be connected to culturally appropriate bereavement counselling, local community groups, or for practical help. The helpline will be offered in English and an Asian language.
“Through our multi-lingual voice platform, we hope to reach many more users than is possible through human agents or digital apps, at much lower cost. The platform will give users access to many community counselling support services in a safe and managed manner, through a phone call.”
Kavita Reddi, Voxta
COVID19 has left a profound mark on London. Many of us have experienced loss, and it’s vital we’re given the time, space, and services we need to heal. But the pandemic’s effects are not equal. Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) communities have borne the brunt of COVID19 fatalities. These deaths have left a staggering number of BAME families behind, many with inadequate access to bereavement support. The Meahė Design team wants this to change. Meahė Design is developing BAME Connect, a digital platform with three goals: to connect people, collect stories, and create culturally informed support networks. BAME Connect will link users to the bereavement services that suit them best. It will also link them to each other. It’s social media feature will offer a safe space for sharing stories of COVID19 loss, with privacy as a first priority. The voices of BAME Londoners are crucial to the platform’s design. Meahė Design will work closely with BAME families, mental health specialists, and social researchers to maximise the impact of BAME Connect. Together in loss, we can heal after COVID19.
“I can’t wait to bring people together on our platform. With BAME Connect, we can show the power of design in doing good.”
Chung-Yu Perng
About the partner
Thrive LDN is a citywide movement to ensure all Londoners have an equal opportunity to good mental health and wellbeing. Since March 2020, Thrive LDN has also been coordinating the public mental health response to COVID-19 in London.
- Access to Thrive LDN’s broad network of partnerships and community relationships, to arrange interviews / workshops with relevant community stakeholders during the ideation and development process.
- Facilitation of co-development with community stakeholders, ensuring clarity regarding aims and expected outcomes throughout the development roadmap.
- Provision of research insights and subject matter expertise to ensure momentum.
- Provision of existing campaign and programme materials, which may be relevant to the selected community / beneficiaries / solution.
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