24/05/2026
Mindful that a number of followers of this page are people who work within funeral companies, sharing here the details and a link to an important research project into our wellbeing:
- 'Exploring the mental health of the UK funeral profession' -
It took just 20mins to complete and a good collective of responses will enable valuable insight - please contribute, share with your colleague teams, all responses are anonymous.
https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/portsmouth/exploring-the-mental-health-of-the-uk-funeral-profession
From Margaret, who is presenting the study as a research piece overseen by Portsmouth University:
"I would like to invite you to participate in a research study, the first of its kind, which seeks to build a picture of the mental health of those of us who work in UK funeral directors’ businesses. I am a qualified psychotherapist, working in the funeral profession for the past 16 years. I am currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate course at University of Portsmouth, of which this research will form a major part.
The aim of the study is to assess levels of some common types of psychological disorders, as well as positive emotions and mental wellbeing, as a starting point for making sure the right support is available to us when we need it. Your experiences, both positive and negative, will help to further an understanding of the psychological health of the funeral profession. It is important that we hear from a broad range of participants, experiencing all levels of mental health, good bad and in between, so we can build an accurate picture.
"Much research has been carried out regarding the mental health of healthcare professionals, as well as the emergency services who are likely to experience psychological distress and trauma in the course of their work. However, funeral staff have been largely overlooked when it comes to consideration of their psychological needs and both the short term and long-term effects of working in the funeral industry have gone without recognition outside of the industry itself. It is fair to say that the funeral business is unique when it comes to stressors, with a broad range of potentially negative psychological experiences integral to the job.
It is well established that stress in the workplace contributes to poor mental health. In occupations regularly exposed to traumatic experiences, aside from the impact on the individual concerned, there can be a knock-on effect on relationships and family life.
The aim of the country wide “Exploring The Mental Health of The UK Funeral Profession” study is to measure the current state of the mental health of a large sample of UK funeral directors’ employees (funeral directors, funeral operatives, embalmers, funeral arrangers, admin staff etc.) against what we know about the general population. This ‘snapshot’ of psychological wellbeing could then be used to inform practices and policies aimed at supporting a better level of mental health in the funeral profession in the future."
