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When an older loved one has passed away, someone might say, ‘Oh, they had a good innings’ or ‘they lived to a ripe old age’.

But do those words diminish the grief that someone might be feeling?

Nuala McGovern discussed the impact of losing parents in older age on Woman’s Hour on Monday with journalist and producer Helen Bullough.

Helen’s father, who was in his 90s, died recently, nine years after the death of her mother. She believes that the death of parents at any age can be a terrible loss with long-lasting effects, but the death of parents when you’re older can also be devastating, difficult to talk about and affects an increasing number of people as the population ages.

It’s a conversation that Helen thinks that we should be having more openly.

You can listen to the full discussion about losing parents in older age on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sounds - it’s the episode from 14 August. Nuala and Helen were also joined on Woman’s Hour by psychologist and author Dr Linda Blair.