3.2.1 The overall service: Companionship from the beginning to the end

Figure 4. Total support provided by the Be-with service

3.2.1 The overall service: Companionship from the beginning to the end

Significantly, just as the name of the Be-with service implies, we will be there with you, our interview material yielded rich evidence of the significance of companionship. Most of the participants said they remembered feelings of being supported and cared for when the service worker was always with them during the complicated procedures for handling post-death matters. According to the qualitative interview, bereaved persons said that the workers in the Be-with service would physically accompany them at every step of the process, including claiming the body from the public mortuary.

Recipient 6: Their name is the Be-with service, right? So, the whole process, after my mother passed away, the worker was there during the whole process, including how to claim the body, how to apply for a cremation permit, how to book a cremation session, how to book the cemetery, how to buy things in a coffin shop, how to register a death and collect the certificate of death. All these kinds of things were accomplished with the support of Miss Lam, a worker of the Be-with service. She was there for me, from the beginning to the end. I can say that. What I need to do when trying to arrange a funeral, she helped me handle most of the matters and accompanied me during the process…I can say that the service she provided is very professional, very considerate. I can describe it like that. The support of Miss Lam is impeccable, is perfect. (Male, 66–70 years old)

Recipient 10: To be honest, about claiming the body, I was really afraid to go down the stairs (in the public mortuary). The service worker then said: I will accompany you. Yes, that’s true. Because I was really afraid to go down the stairs, because…If I want to go to the public mortuary, then I have to take the lift, and there is only me, the whole process, I myself alone. Then the worker who accompanied me stood in front of me, I was standing behind the worker. I was afraid to walk alone. I don’t know why, and I was terrified. That was it. (Female, 41–45 years old)