{"id":454,"date":"2026-05-27T18:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T18:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/variath\/?page_id=454"},"modified":"2026-06-04T17:51:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T17:51:31","slug":"grief-guide","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/variath\/grief-guide\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Navigating Grief at Vancouver\u00a0Island\u00a0University: Experiences and Perspectives of Students, Faculty and Staff\u00a0<\/strong>
Variath, C.<\/a>, Gerassimova, A.<\/a>, & Bobkova, Y<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\u00a0academic\u00a0environments,\u00a0students’\u00a0experiences of grief may arise from various situations, including the death of a peer, faculty or loved one, serious illness, or other significant life events. Despite being a common human experience, grief is often difficult to navigate within academic contexts that emphasize productivity and performance. Existing literature suggests that\u00a0students experiencing grief may feel isolated, unsupported, and uncertain about how to navigate academic expectations\u00a0during periods of bereavement.\u00a0To\u00a0address gaps\u00a0in student grief\u00a0support\u00a0needs,\u00a0Vrije University Brussels (VUB)<\/a>\u00a0developed\u00a0a\u00a0structured grief\u00a0guide\u00a0to support\u00a0its students and faculty.\u00a0In Canada,\u00a0other post-secondary institutions\u00a0such as\u00a0the University of British Columbia\u00a0Okanagan\u00a0(UBCO) and\u00a0Brock\u00a0University\u00a0have adapted or are in the process of adapting VUB\u2019s grief\u00a0guide\u00a0that outlines available supports and offers guidance on navigating academic responsibilities during periods of loss\u00a0to meet the needs of their\u00a0respective\u00a0student and faculty populations.\u00a0While several resources exist at Vancouver Island University (VIU) to support students experiencing grief and bereavement, there is currently no formal grief or bereavement guide in place to help students navigate these experiences.\u00a0The project objectives are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objective 1:<\/strong> To explore VIU students’ experience of grief, loss, and bereavement and access to support within the university environment and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objective 2:<\/strong> To develop a VIU-specific grief guide informed by existing models created by VUB and adapted by UBCO, and the findings from Objective 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Objective 1, we will use a critical qualitative approach.\u00a0To gain a broad perspective on student experiences, data will be collected through semi-structured interviews with VIU students and faculty, as well as focus group interviews with VIU staff whose work impact students. Participants will be invited to share their experiences and perspectives related to grief, loss, and institutional support within the university context.\u00a0Data will be analyzed using interpretive description\u00a0methodology, and findings will be organized and reported in themes.\u00a0In addition, an environmental scan of existing VIU and community-based resources available to support students navigating grief will be conducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Objective 2, an advisory committee will be established, including key stakeholders and knowledge users. A VIU-specific grief guide will be co-created with guidance from the advisory committee, informed by findings from Objective 1 and the existing grief guides from VUB and UBCO. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overarching aim of this project is to contribute to the development of more accessible, compassionate, and effective support systems within VIU, with the potential to improve students\u2019 experiences during periods of grief and loss.
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Navigating Grief at Vancouver\u00a0Island\u00a0University: Experiences and Perspectives of Students, Faculty and Staff\u00a0Variath, C., Gerassimova, A., & Bobkova, Y. In\u00a0academic\u00a0environments,\u00a0students’\u00a0experiences of grief may arise from various situations, including the death of a peer, faculty or loved one, serious illness, or other … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6129,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-454","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/variath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/variath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/variath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/variath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/variath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/variath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":504,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/variath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454\/revisions\/504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/variath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}