#172 Bridging the Gap Between Advance Care Planning and Bereavement Support with Jason Ghous

How do you make sense of the choices, costs and practicalities whilst navigating bereavement too? Jason Ghous is the founder of Funeral Experts; he set out to provide free, independent, and practical support to people at the end-of-life care or who are bereaved, helping families understand their choices and make sense of bereavement admin. In our conversation, you'll learn about the service and find out how to access the brilliant support offered.

This episode has been kindly supported by the Living Well Dying Well Trust. The creation, development and content of the episode remains the responsibility of Clare Fuller.

Key messages

• The evolution of Funeral Experts from funeral price comparison to holistic bereavement navigation

• What practical support for bereaved people looks like, including housing, debt, benefits, probate and funerals

• The huge financial variation in funeral costs and why transparent comparison matters

• Why traditional signposting and leaflets often fail bereaved families

• Advance Care Planning as an everyday, societal responsibility, not just clinical

• Call for government and society to stop leaving people “at their worst moment to fend for themselves”

Resource

• Find out more about Funeral Experts

• Hear Could we start planning ahead earlier? Findings from research with Dr Sonya Bushell referred to in the episode

• Funeral Experts freephone support line: 0800 086 8887 – free national phone support for bereaved people (as given by Jason).

Bio

Jason Ghous is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Phrenetech Ltd, trading as Funeral Experts and FuneralExperts.com. Funeral Experts provides free, independent, and practical support to people in end-of-life care or bereaved, helping families understand their choices, navigate practical bereavement administrative steps, access support and avoid unnecessary financial or emotional distress. The service works with NHS trusts, local authorities, and other public sector partners to integrate non-clinical bereavement support into end-of-life and bereavement pathways. Jason’s work is rooted in the belief that no family should be left to navigate bereavement alone, especially at the point where decisions, paperwork, cost, and grief collide.