Hospice care does not end with the patient's death. This time can be frightening, painful, overwhelming and lonely and each person's grief is different.
Saint Francis Hospice Bereavement Program
Saint Francis offers a year-long bereavement program for loved ones to help with this time of transition. There is no charge for this program. Services include individual grief counseling, grief support for adults and children, a library of grief-related books and videotapes, and monthly mailings of a support newsletter for adults and children.
Some find that having a hospice volunteer to talk with is helpful. Also offered are an annual Service of Remembrance and a program to present ways for survivors to cope effectively with seasonal holidays. Even though grief is a normal response to loss, seeking the support of those who understand the painful complexity of this adjustment period can often be encouraging. The grief support groups are open to the community even when hospice was not involved.
People in our bereavement program have found these books helpful:
For Early Grief:
For Early Grief:
- "Good Grief" by Granger Westberg
- "Don't Take My Grief Away" by Doug Manning
After a Spouse Dies:
- "A Grief Observed" by C.S. Lewis
- "Widowed" by Joyce Brothers
After a Parent Dies:
- "When Parents Die" by Edward Myers
- "How to Survive the Loss of a Parent" by Lois Akner
For a Grieving Child:
- "When Dinosaurs Die" by Laurie Brown and Marc Brown
- "Lifetimes" by Bryan Mellonie and Robert Ingpen
For a Grieving Teen:
- "The Grieving Teen" by Helen Fitzgerald
- "Healing Your Grieving Heart" by Alan Wolfelt
- "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" by Harold Kushner
- "Safe Passage" by Molly Fumia
Learn More About the Saint Francis Hospice Bereavement Program
Call Saint Francis Hospice at 918-494-6465 for more information regarding the bereavement program as well as support groups for adults and children.