Using some of their own experiences, David Elliott and Chris Dale highlight how community nurses are ideally placed to support people with learning disabilities who face the impending death of a loved one

The death of a close family member or friend can have a devastating impact on a person with learning disabilities (Hollins and Esterhuyzen 1997, Oswin 1991), particularly when a death is unexpected and sudden. By contrast, an anticipated death resulting from old age or a terminal illness such as cancer provides an opportunity to prepare for the death and the loss to come (Raphael 1984).