Experiences of Peer Support Providers Supporting Family Members Bereaved By Suicide: A Qualitative Study in South Korea

Background and Purpose: Family members who experience the sudden and unexpected loss of a loved one to suicide face complicated psychosocial and physical suffering. Peer support services could help these bereaved families who struggle to express their grief due to societal stigma related to bereavement and coping with loss. The benefits of receiving peer support are widely documented in the literature. However, the benefits and challenges experienced by peer support providers among families bereaved by suicide remained understudied. This study aimed to understand the benefits and challenges of peer support providers who serve people who lost a family member to suicide in South Korea.

Methods: Eight family members (two men and six women) bereaved by suicide who provided peer support were recruited through community agencies for suicide survivors using purposive sampling. All participants provided bereaved families with daily emotional support by in-person visits or phone calls for 3 months. In-depth interviews were conducted to explore their experiences as a peer support provider. Their ages ranged from 29 and 69 years. The elapsed time since their loss varied across participants from 2 years and 4 months to 25 years and 5 months, with a mean of 9 years and 10 months. Participants’ relationship with their deceased family member varied: child (n = 3), spouse (n = 2), parent (n = 2), or sibling (n = 1). Inductive thematic analysis approach was used to systematically identify key theme from the qualitative data.

Results: Thematic analysis of peer support providers’ accounts identified four main themes and 11 subthemes: (a) reevaluating my loss and grief (feeling comforted by sharing grief experiences with peers, reducing my suffering by better understanding the deceased and accepting the death); (b) enhancing recovery in my daily life (developing a routine in daily life, finding the meaning and purpose of life); (c) feeling frustrated when facing challenges (being reminded of the pain of bereavement, having conflict with peers due to different perspectives on grief experiences, and facing crisis situations that trigger distress); and (d) recognizing personal growth (feeling rewarded and valued as a helpful person, being grateful for current life, improved self-esteem through a strong sense of achievement, and being motivated to pursue social action for families bereaved by suicide). Participants felt comforted and reduced their suffering by providing peer support. Although they faced practical challenges of being a peer support provider, they reported enhanced recovery and personal growth by feeling valued and improving their self-esteem.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that providers of peer support to a family bereaved by suicide benefit by soothing their grief, promoting their recovery in daily life, and achieving personal growth alongside increased self-esteem despite the frustration and challenges of providing peer support. Implications for social work practice center on developing and providing timely guidelines and qualified training that minimize the risk for mental health issues and addressing the providers’ grief and recovery throughout the process of providing peer support.