'You are going to drop the ball on this...': using siblings' stories to inform better interprofessional practice when someone goes missing

Abstract

This paper focuses on a part of a larger piece of exploratory, qualitative research. A brief literature review precedes verbatim quotations from accounts of siblings' experiences of police. The accounts were gained by in-depth interviews with adult siblings of nine long-term missing people. Participant stories reveal the quality of the investigation and the manner of service as influencing their emotional well-being in the short and longer term. Findings cannot be extrapolated but indicate potential areas for future research. The need for support from human services workers to complement the role of police is recognised as is the important role of non-government support and advocacy services.