I am inviting you to take part in a research project which I am conducting with bereaved parents. As a bereaved parent myself, I understand the sorrow and grief that we endure when our child dies. The loss of a child is surely the worst experience anyone can have in life, but there may be some ways to improve the support that bereaved parents are offered to help them cope.  I am hoping that the project I am involved with may give those who are in a position to assist us, the information they need to make their support more effective.

I am interested in hearing from parents who were bereaved during or since 2005. Taking part will involve completing a confidential questionnaire, which you can fill out on paper or online if you prefer. There will be questions about what happened around the time of your child’s death and how it has affected you since. I am interested in how people’s feelings change over time so I will also invite you to answer an additional set of questions six months later. No-one will telephone you or ask to visit you at home as part of this study. The results will be made available to any participant who requests.

The project has been approved by the University of Stirling, Department of Psychology ethics committee. It is funded by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, and is carried out at the University of Stirling. If you agree to take part, all information you give will be confidential. No-one except myself, Mairi Harper, will have access to your information.

Once the research is complete, I hope to know more about how parents cope with the death of their child. I anticipate that the information from this study will be used for the benefit of all bereaved parents in future.

If you wish to be involved in this research, please either email me to register at mh39@stir.ac.uk or telephone 01786 466853.

Many thanks for your kind consideration

Mairi Harper