“I just need to know”: Supporting families following a death reported to the coroner

It is fairly universal that an unexpected or unexplained death will be subject to a coronial or equivalent enquiry including autopsy examination. What is less common is a dedicated counselling service attached to the forensic mortuary to support and guide grieving families through this process and beyond. The innovative and proactive service model of the government-funded Forensic Counselling Units in New South Wales provides information and support to relatives of approximately 6,000 deceased persons annually. Using case studies as examples, participants will be introduced to a variety of interventions used by Social Workers within the Forensic Counselling Unit that aim to grant choice and control to bereaved family’s faced with the enormity of rebuilding their lives following the death of someone important. Some of the interventions that will be explored include; provision of information and support about the coronial and forensic process, facilitation of viewings/identifications and providing informed choices about obtaining sensitive information (e.g. suicide notes, crime scene photographs and autopsy reports). The evidence and principles underlying these interventions will also be discussed. Participants will be invited to consider how interventions used by Social Workers within the Forensic Counselling Unit could be transferred to their own practice supporting bereaved families.