The Talk Together Project - Informing Choices NI

Talk Together is a research project between Informing Choices NI and Ulster University.

The project, funded by the Ideas Fund, was initially conducted between 2021-2023 and looked at how loss and bereavement impact people with learning disabilities and autistic people. We hoped to increase knowledge of how people with learning disabilities and autistic people feel about loss and bereavement and look at what is needed to give better support.

We also worked with family members and support staff to get a better understanding of the challenges faced around loss and bereavement, and how these can be overcome.

In the research report, launched in January 2023, one of the recommendations was for support staff to have more training around this topic so they could provide better support. The project was then extended for a further year, thanks to more funding from The Ideas Fund.

In this part of the project, professionals, who support people with learning disabilities and autistic people, undertook training designed and delivered by Informing Choices NI. There was high demand for this, and feedback showed that participants thought there was great potential for it to influence their personal and professional development.

The project has shown that a consistent, co-ordinated approach is needed to ensure that there are more conversations around this challenging but important topic.

You can read the new, updated research report here.