Aloha … from BetheFree drop-in Grief and Loss
sessions begin in April
RANDOLPH, March 20, 2009 – Gifford Medical Center begins offering free Grief and Loss drop-in meetings next month as part of the hospital’s expanding palliative care program.
The sessions are coordinated by Gifford Palliative Nurse Coordinator Pamela Fournier and Chaplain Susan Thomas and are offered on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Markle Room in the Gifford Conference Center.
The sessions are open to all.
“You may have experienced a loss recently, in a hospital setting or otherwise,” the Rev. Thomas says of who might want to attend the sessions. “You may be grieving a recent diagnosis or separation from someone you love. You may suddenly feel overwhelmed by the recollection of an unresolved grief. If so, these open sessions offer a safe place to be with compassionate listeners.”
The sessions provide a listening ear; referrals to resources, including literature or to professional services, if needed; and light refreshments.
Organizers emphasize that the meetings are not professional counseling sessions. They’re rather an extension of the Gifford palliative care program.
Gifford is increasingly becoming known for its end-of-life care program. The Randolph hospital has a special suite for dying patients and their families called the Garden Room, for its garden-side location. The hospital also has a multidisciplinary Advanced Illness Care Team, a palliative care consultation service, and specially certified palliative care physicians and nurses helping terminally ill patients and their families.
Patients in advanced illness and their families, especially those staying in the Garden Room, are offered special services, including massages, acupuncture and Reiki for pain management; family food carts, grief materials and more; Legacy Projects (or professional family photos at the end-of-life); songs from the volunteer River Bend community hospice choir; and more.
And, says Thomas, “Part of a good palliative care program is assisting people to process grief when death finally comes, as well as during what is often a long lasting illness. We saw an opportunity to meet the needs of patients’ family members with whom we work here at Gifford, but also realized that grief and loss is a common experience for all of us eventually.”
Thomas says Grief and Loss group creators envisioned a place where people could “check in with others who are understanding listeners or who are undergoing similar experiences.”
“The idea is to offer such a place regularly – twice a month – so that people know it is there should they need it. They can come for one session now-and-then or several in sequence, whatever they need,” Thomas says.
The new Grief and Loss sessions are funded by the Last Mile Ride. Held each year, the Last Mile is a charity motorcycle ride that raises money for Gifford’s end-of-life care program, including special services for patients and families. This year’s ride is Aug. 15.
To learn more about the Grief and Loss meetings, call Thomas at (802) 728-2107. To learn more about the Last Mile Ride, go the ride page on this site. www.giffordmeww