Some Reflections on the Integration of Self-Help and Professional Support Services to SIDS Families

Extract: In this chapter the features of self-help and professional support services are considered and some reflections are offered on factors influencing the integration of professional and self-help support services to families who have experienced a death from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). While there are distinct advantages in an integrated approach to practise, there are also some areas of potential conflict that need to be addressed. The two most significant prerequisites thought to facilitate the integration of the service are the well-conceptualised definitions of the service task and the roles required to carry out that task.

Normalisation is a central principle of practise in SIDS service and, indeed in any bereavement support service. It involves the recognition of the wide range of coping approaches and capacities among individuals and of their unwillingness to view trauma and grief reactions within narrow theoretically prescribed boundaries.

The majority of SIDS families are generally well functioning. Within their own coping capacities, they have managed well in the tasks of family life. They have had little desire or need to seek assistance from welfare agencies. Following a SIDS death it is not uncommon for the members of these families to experience extremes of feeling, thought, and behaviour….

References

• Benveniste, G. (1987). Professionalising the Organisation, Reducing Bureaucracy to Enhance Effectiveness. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

• Borkman, T. (1976). Experiential Knowledge: A New Concept for the Analysis of Self Help Groups. Social Service Review, 50(3): 445-456.

Last reviewed: 17/4/24