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Topic

Grieving in the Time of an Opioid Crisis: A Look at How a Palliative Approach to Care Lens Could Support Youth Through their Grief Journey

Social Dimensions of Health

Date & location

• Tuesday, August 12, 2025
• 9:00 A.M.
• Hut R, Room 103A

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Kelli Stajduhar, School of Nursing, ßÉßɱ¬ÁÏ (Supervisor)
• Dr. Shemine Gulamhusein, School of Child and Youth Care, UVic (Co-Supervisor)

External Examiner

• Dr. Ingrid Handlovsky, School of Nursing, UVic

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Eric Higgs, School of Environmental Studies, UVic

Abstract

This is among the few studies that directly engage youth who are street involved who also have direct experience with substance use and losing friends and relatives amidst the ongoing public health emergency of illicit opioid-related deaths in British Columbia. This crisis takes place in the broader context of the war on drugs, a system rooted in inequitable drug policies that disproportionately criminalize and stigmatize people who use drugs, especially those stigmatized and discriminated because of race, poverty and homelessness. Youth who are street involved face heightened exposure to death and loss and are among the most at risk to experience pronounced health inequities. This study aimed at developing an understanding of the experiences of grief among youth who are street involved and the impact of grief on their daily lives has the potential to inform services and interventions to better support youth who are street involved. Guided by the frameworks of disenfranchised grief and trauma-informed care, this study used interpretive description to explore the experiences of grief among street-involved youth aged 16 to 19, alongside insights from youth-focused practitioners. Through in-depth qualitative interviews and reflective thematic analysis, the findings highlight how youth grief is often minimized, misinterpreted, or not recognized as grief at all. This lack of recognition contributes to complex and disenfranchised grieving processes. Participants consistently expressed a desire for more responsive and meaningful grief care in the community. This research underscores the urgent need for social and professional systems to cultivate a culture in which death and grief can be openly discussed. Policy recommendations emerging from this study include integrating grief literacy across youth-serving systems to foster a deeper understanding of grief as a valid and diverse experience and ensuring that service providers receive education and training in palliative approaches to care, enabling them to more effectively support street-involved youth navigating loss and anticipatory grief.