Losing close people is always a psychologically painful experience. Bereavement and funerals allow people to find solace in the fact of death. However, the pandemic imposes certain restrictions, which compromise the ability to mourn the loss. The global tendency to move away from wakes for fear of the virus precipitates a public mental health crisis. The Irish traditions allow people to comfort each other in the aftermath of funerals. The subsequent research question is: how can Irish funeral traditions help the bereaved people cope with losses during the pandemic?
Menzies et al. (2020) raise the question of the looming mental crisis because of the pandemic and the death toll surrounding it. This study is further corroborated by Pearce et al. (2021), who has conducted a survey, which showcases the importance of maintaining bereavement care for the quality of health services. The articles by Wallace et al. (2020) and Lucey (2020) are dedicated to the study of COVID-related complications regarding grief and recommended practices for mitigating it, specifically, communication, therapy, and promotion of self-care. Meanwhile, people start to isolate themselves from the deceased and deny themselves the opportunity to mourn. Ronan (2020) argues that the Irish are the only ones who still have wakes after the death of their loved ones. These sources are important because they highlight how the pandemic affects mourning people and what can be done about it.
The proposed methodology is surveys. Ascertaining whether Irish funeral traditions will help people overcome their grief requires analyzing the most common psychological issues. The most effective way to do it is by conducting anonymous surveys through the Internet. The research methods will be primarily quantitative as a result will be based on the number of answers available. It would be appropriate for two reasons – first, it does not pressure people into publicly disclosing their identities. Second, it allows the researcher to structure the questionnaires to incorporate the questions regarding the appeal of Irish traditions.
There are two ethical issues with this research. First, the participants will be required to confront their feelings, which will likely affect their emotional well-being. In order to properly describe how one feels, it is necessary to delve into the negativity. There is no guarantee that at the end of the surveys, the emotional state of the participants will improve. Second, the survey may offend some of the participants because it requires them to question their values regarding funerals and mourning. However, all participation is voluntary, meaning that anyone can opt-out at any time. Moreover, all surveys are anonymous, which means no pressure on public disclosure. Finally, the questions will be structured in a non-imposing manner in order to minimize the risk of forcefully changing the values of the participants.
First, the survey will have a section of questions pertaining to the participants’ bereavement, inquiring how they handle the grief. The second section will ask the participants whether the Irish practices would make them feel better without identifying them as Irish. As soon as the participants submit the answers, the data are collected. Descriptive statistics will be used for the analysis. It is a preferred method because it will allow the researcher to see patterns and conclude whether Irish practices are compatible based on the number of positive answers.
Altogether, the study will accomplish two objectives. First, it will highlight the emotional issues stemming from the lack of permitted bereavement practices. Second, the study will show whether Irish traditions are acceptable to other people. The recommended approach is using an anonymous Internet survey, which will provide quantifiable data. Subsequently, the research results will allow establish whether Irish funeral practices can offer a solution to the public mental health crisis.
References
Lucey, J. (2020). When grief gets complicated after COVID-19, what can we do? St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services. Web.
Menzies, R. E., Neimeyer, R. A., & Menzies, R. G. (2020). Death anxiety, loss, and grief in the time of COVID-19. Behaviour Change, 37(3), 111-115.
Pearce, C., Honey, J. R., Lovick, R., Creamer, N. Z., Henry, C., Langford, A., Stobert, M., & Barclay, S. (2021). ‘A silent epidemic of grief’: A survey of bereavement care provision in the UK and Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMJ Open, 11(3), 1-10.
Ronan, M. (2020). Funerals in the time of coronavirus. Irish Journal of Sociology, 1-5.
Wallace, C. L., Wladkowski, S. P., Gibson, A., & White, P. (2020). Grief during the COVID-19 pandemic: Considerations for palliative care providers. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 60(21), 70-76.