Your experiences

How have you been supported through bereavement?

At Independent Age, we want everyone experiencing bereavement in later life to get the support they need.

Our policy team is currently working on a project to understand the experiences of people over 65 who have been bereaved and we’re keen to hear your views on:

• The types of support you have found most helpful in your own life – whether this was through family and friends or something more structured such as support groups or bereavement counselling.
• The different forms of bereavement support that have been made available to you.
• Any particular reasons you’ve decided to access bereavement support services (or not access them).

We are interested in your hearing about experience whether the bereavement was more recent or longer ago, and about both COVID and non-COVID related experiences.

If you think this is something you’d be happy to talk about with us, please get in touch at policy@independentage.org.

A member of the policy team will then reach out to arrange an interview. The interview would take approximately an hour and would be carried out at a date and time that is convenient to you. Interviews can take place either online or over the phone – whichever you’d prefer.

No preparation is required for the interview and you are free to drop out at any time.

Thank you!

Are you waiting for an operation?

At Independent Age, we want everyone with health problems to get the support they need.

Our policy team is currently working on a project to understand the experiences of older people 65+ in England who are waiting for an operation or who have waited before, and we'd like to hear your views on:

• What the experience of waiting has been like for you.
• How waiting for surgery has impacted your day-to-day life, your mental health and your physical wellbeing.

If you think this is something you’d be happy to talk about with us, please get in touch at policy@independentage.org. A member of the policy team will then reach out to discuss the work further, answer any questions and arrange an interview. The interview would take approximately an hour and would be carried out at a date and time that is convenient to you. Interviews can take place either online or over the phone – whichever you’d prefer. No preparation is required for the interview and you are free to drop out at any time.