My Grief My Way project receive the Marie Curie Claire Fisher Research Impact Award

The team behind the My Grief My Way project have been awarded the Claire Fisher Research Impact Award at the recent Marie Curie Annual Research Conference for their work on improving coping and mental wellbeing after bereavement.

The project, co-led by Dr Anne Finucane and Dr David Gillanders, involved creating an online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) resource, called My Grief My Way, to provide easily accessible support to bereaved individuals to work through at their own pace. My Grief My Way was developed in collaboration with a diverse group of people who have been bereaved and is designed to improve coping and quality of life after bereavement.

Approximately 3.5m people are bereaved in the UK each year. Grieving is a natural process, and typically 60% of people who are bereaved adjust with support from family and friends. However, approximately 40% need additional support, yet service availability is inconsistent across the UK, with many unable to access support services due to barriers such as long waiting lists, limited availability and feeling uncomfortable seeking support.

My Grief My Way is an online resource that provides bereaved individuals with skills and techniques that support them through the process of grieving, helping them find new ways to handle the feelings, thoughts, memories and physical sensations that come with grieving. The resource provides real life perspectives on loss and grief, explains skills and techniques to help with coping, and provides exercises and worksheets to support reflection and growth throughout the grieving process. My Grief My Way has been used by nearly 9000 users since January 2025.

The team are now developing a short course to support use of My Grief My Way by those who provide bereveament support, which will be available through the University of Edinburgh.

We are delighted to receive this award in honour of Clair Fisher. Clair was passionate about improving wellbeing in palliative care; and we hope that My Grief My Way can be helpful to many people who could do with a little extra support to improve their own wellbeing after bereavement. We are very grateful to our bereaved storytellers who were filmed for the resource; as well as Marie Curie and Cruse Scotland, and our lived experience group, who guided all aspects of this work.

Dr Anne Finucane Senior Research Fellow, Project Co-Lead

The award panel were impressed with the reach of the project and its scope to grow, commenting:

With UK wide influence and engagement, the panel found that this project had a clear and impressive impact. They also felt encouraged by the resource’s potential to grow and be shared more widely.

The Clair Fisher Research Impact Award celebrates examples of palliative and end of life care research that’s had a notable impact on policy and/or practice. The winner is awarded funding to go towards further impact activities or professional development. 

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2026
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