We have to think of having systems in place for different kinds of deaths. What we see in disasters and terror—often at once—makes for a governmental response. We have a much better system for reaching out than we have for the day-to-day experiences, but our systems must include both what happens individually and what happens collectively. For example, in Norway we have a very large country as you have, but to travel from north to south is extremely long. You have to build it locally. The local hospitals and the local communities have to have structures in place.
We have done some research on what are the structures needed to have good support over time. There has to be someone with responsibility. There has to be a good connection between primary care and secondary care when you need more expert help, and with the amount that develops—complicated grief, or as it's now come into the ICD.... I don't know if you're familiar with the WHO classification. In June, they included prolonged grief disorder as a diagnosis. In Europe, we follow the ICD, not the DSM, which is in the U.S.A. I'm not sure what you do in Canada. This has recognized that there are people who experience grief and go on to have problems. When you lose a child, the chance of having those kind of problems is pretty high.
In our first study, we found about 50% of those after suicide, sudden infant death syndrome and accidents. It was somewhat lower with SIDS than it was for the two others. There is a large amount that you need to have a system in place to also get an early recommendation or a transfer to specialized services. For every family who loses a child, it affects the family.
One of the things we're seeing now is that while we have a crisis team in every community in Norway that follows up when there's a sudden death, we lack the continuity when there is more than just acute follow-up. You need routines for when somebody takes over, to make sure that families get assistance over time. If you look at the research literature from around the world, several places have systems in place for what happens immediately, but not for the long-term follow-up. That's where it's usually most needed.
You need those structures. You need a system that includes good information. If you look at what parents find most useful, it's very often information—but provided with care. That means that there should be good care around that information. It's not only getting the information. It's getting the information in a caring environment. Combining those two is the best kind of crisis intervention you can have.
Then you need access to parental support groups. I can't remember the name. It's a French name that you mentioned, with the other person appearing for the board here. There's a lot that can be done by putting structures in place in the follow-up, and addressing the long-term needs as well.