As Bereavement Co-ordinator at Galway Hospice, my role is focused on supporting the families of patients and understanding what they might need, practically, socially and therapeutically.
Every individual and family is different, and the support they need can be different too. Our team of Medical Social Workers and Bereavement Volunteers work together to understand those needs and offer the support that is most appropriate for each person and family.
Hospice care is holistic and encompasses care of the whole family, not just the individual patient.
When families first become involved with hospice, their impression can be that palliative care is focused on the patient’s symptoms and making them comfortable. That is certainly an important part of hospice care, but it is not the whole picture.
We also recognise the experience of partners, children, carers and other family members, and offer support to them while their loved one is in our care, but also beyond their relative’s death.
Following the death, family members are contacted and asked about their emotional, practical and social support needs. Where needed, our Bereavement Team can offer help and support through individual and group interventions for both adults and children.
There really isn’t a typical day in my role.
My day can involve contacting someone who has been referred to our service and having a conversation about what might best help them. I might meet an adult for an individual bereavement support session, work with a child or adolescent, facilitate a family session, or help connect someone with one of our group supports.
Individual bereavement support gives partners and family members space to acknowledge what they have experienced during their loved one’s illness, including their role as carers and the changes they now face in their own lives.
Our conversations might include understanding grief reactions, self-care, or how someone can maintain a connection with their loved one as they face the future.
When supporting children and adolescents, we use a variety of child-centred resources and techniques to help them engage with and express their grief.
Sometimes I work with a whole family, helping them to communicate and understand how each person may be experiencing grief differently.
And support doesn’t always mean sitting in a room talking.
Our Walk and Talk group brings together human connection, nature and physical movement. Our monthly Bereavement Café offers an informal place to meet and connect with others, and is open both to families who have availed of hospice care and to anyone who has experienced bereavement.
Alongside colleagues in Pastoral Care, I also help to organise our Remembrance Services. These non-denominational services give families and friends an opportunity to remember and celebrate the life of their loved one, to come together and to connect with others in their grief.
Grief is individual, and what helps one person may not be what another person needs.
I am convinced of the value of bereavement support, whether that comes through individual support, connection with others through groups, or receiving information about community supports.
I am proud that our Bereavement Support Service can be there for individuals and families at some of the most difficult times in their lives.
This Palliative Care Week is an opportunity to remind people that hospice care is about more than supporting the patient. It is about caring for the whole family, and that care and support can continue when a loved one is no longer with them.
Maura O’Sullivan
Bereavement Co-ordinator
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