Mr Andrew Langford

Professional biography

My involvement in the research field is predominantly in the areas of sociology, counselling and psychology.  I have an interest in mixed-method studies, bringing together data using quantitative and qualitative means, to achieve a greater understanding of people, organisations, a situation, or a given context.  I apply a critical realist lens to my work, and am passionate about getting to the root of the causes of why things happen and why we behave, think, and feel the way we do.  

My current focus is that of my PhD, which is to understand how short-term telephone support influences the resilience and vulnerability of bereaved men.  I am in the process of investigating how the medium in which support is provided, impacts upon the experience of that support.  Furthermore, I am interested in why men are often underrepresented as a client or customer group in mental and physical health and social care services, and what can be done to better engage men in the future.

Alongside grief and bereavement, I also have interests in the areas of suicide, self-harm, compassionate communities, resilience, and trauma.  My most recent publications include work on clinical outcomes for telephone and in-person bereavement support, and an ethnographic account of grief through the lens of three established grief models.  In process is a book chapter on working with trauma and grief.

I am committed to ensuring that the insight gained through research, practice reviews, and the lived experience of service users, changes services and the way we work with each other.  This is so that we learn and grow, as individuals, organisations, and communities.  With this in mind, here are some of the projects I've been involved with, to propagate learning and good practice:

• Working across organisations to pilot and establish a compassionate communities model, in the context of bereavement, so that people can feel more confident in having a kind conversation with someone when they are grieving.  This is with a view of alleviating distress, and also creating a means of people supporting each other, so that there is less of a need to refer to formal support services.
• Establishing engagement groups of mental health professionals, clinical supervisors, and people with lived experience of bereavement in Cruse Bereavement Support, to discuss how services can change for the better, to serve individuals and society as a whole.
• In partnership with representatives from the Royal College of General Practitioners, establishing a conversation model to use when engaging with individuals and families who are grieving, so that they experience an immediate compassionate response and can be enabled to speak with others close to them, about how they are feeling.
• Working within a number of high profile finance sector organisations, to establish models of good practice around engaging with vulnerable customers presenting with comorbidities and financial issues, and a model of mutual support between front-line telephone agents and managers, dealing with high impact calls.