Abstract
This longitudinal qualitative study describes the lived experience of ‘sensory and quasi-sensory experiences of the deceased’ following bereavement. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with four bereaved individuals at 6–12 months, 12–18 months, and 18–24 months post-bereavement. Following transcription, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of each account allowed for a description and interpretation of recursive and processual change, over time. The findings report four themes: ‘the deceased as present, nearby, or somehow accessible’, ‘resolution, relocation and configuration’, ‘maneuvering closeness and comfort’, and ‘transforming, unfolding and enacting narrative futures’. The findings show that sensory and quasi-sensory experiences involving the deceased foster continuing bonds and are meaningful. The study outcomes bring novel insights into how such experiences unfold and affect bereavement.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Death Studies |
| Early online date | 25 Aug 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 25 Aug 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.