Comparing user satisfaction with grief-informed texts to other types of bereavement support in the United Kingdom

Grief following the death of a loved one is a painful human experience, and yet bereaved people often have trouble getting the right grief support. In 2022, the UK Commission on Bereavement found significant deficits in the availability, accessibility, length, and helpfulness of bereavement services. Around that time, a national charity in the UK piloted Grief Coach, a low-cost, scalable, text message-based grief support program with the potential to fill gaps in bereavement services. This research assessed user satisfaction with Grief Coach, how user satisfaction ratings compared with ratings of other types of informal and formal grief support received, and whether there were differences in risk level, assessed using measures of well-being and loss-related vulnerability, of those who used Grief Coach only vs. with formal grief support. 1631 Grief Coach subscribers enrolled three months or longer were texted a link to an online survey. UK residents aged 18 + who experienced a death within the past 5 years continued to the survey that assessed demographics, types of grief services received, ratings of perceived availability, accessibility, length, and helpfulness of Grief Coach and the other services, well-being using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, and loss-related vulnerability using the Adult Attitude to Grief Scale. 430 program enrollees (26.4%) responded to the survey, and 314 (73.0%) met the inclusion criteria. In that group, 91.7% expressed satisfaction with Grief Coach’s availability, 95.3% accessibility, 82.5% length, and 92.9% helpfulness. In paired t-tests, Grief Coach was rated significantly higher at p < .001 in availability, accessibility, length, and helpfulness than self-help resources, social support, and general practitioner support, and higher in availability, accessibility, and length than peer counseling and therapy. No differences emerged between Grief Coach vs. support groups or funeral directors. There were no significant differences in well-being and loss vulnerability among grievers who used Grief Coach only vs. Grief Coach + formal grief support. Findings demonstrate strong satisfaction with the availability, accessibility, length, and helpfulness of text message-based grief support. Longitudinal research is needed to identify how and for whom text messaging can best fill gaps in bereavement services.