About bereavement resources:
We created newsletters based on the theme of what we believed most people need along the timeline. We send 1, 3, 6, 9, 11 and 13 month letters and newsletters to go with them. So the letter is more personal (by inserting the deceased loved ones name and relationship and writing as if directly to them) and the newsletters are a combination of mostly shortish articles about the topic for the month. Our first mailing actually has 2 newsletters to go with the one initial letter since the topics are really important but we don't have another mailing. The first two are "Grief Hurts" and "Mulitiple Losses". I wrote a few articles across all the newsletters, another BC wrote some and then we use other articles with permission. We also have a resources section with books to read. A couple of the newsletters have a place to include information about the next grief group or memorial, etc., but you have to remember to keep it up to date. I have the website on every newsletter for one of Alan Wolfelts "Grief Words" sites so people can easily access brief articles on all kinds of loss. It takes you to where anyone can click the link of one of his many articles and it comes up to read, like loss of a spouse, etc... Many of them reside on funeral home websites, but you can find out about them on Dr. Wolfelts website at The Center for Loss.com. I also have several writing prompts on most newsletters as I find they help people realize and/or acknowledge where they are in their grief.
We send children and teen info mostly from Dougy.org and Nacg.org (National Alliance for Grieving Children). They are very informative and mostly in formats that are easy to copy from an original so it's clean. We also use NACG.ORG's children's activity book. It is pricey, but buying in bulk is lower cost or you can recommend it to families until your budget allows providing it.
Dougy.org also has a lot of activities for children, teens and families right on-line.
Dougy.org also has a grief podcast written for children and their families. The ones I've been able to listen to are pretty good. I think they are helpful for more than just kids since they talk about grief without assumptions of what the listener may or may not know. You can find it on the website under Media.
**Dougy.org also has a translator for many of their materials and on-line activities so you can click on the language you need and it brings up handouts that are translated in that language. They have many languages so check it out.
I hope this helps even though I can't send our actual materials. Feel free to contact me if you have questions. Take it one bite at a time so you don't become overwhelmed.
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Linda White
Heart to Heart Hospice
Bereavement Coordinator
lwhite@htohh.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 02-01-2023 10:19 AM
From: Jennifer Simmons
Subject: Bereavement Letters
Hello, we recently re-vamped our mailing to use original content. As one of the letter authors I highly recommend utilizing Microsoft Publisher to create a few Master templates. It goes a long way toward ensuring that the mailings are clean and consistent across the various letters. We also use this for our other publications (tip sheets, activity lists, staff trainings, etc.).
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Jennifer Simmons, LCSW
Bereavement Coordinator
St Francis Reflections Life Stage Care
Original Message:
Sent: 01-30-2023 09:41 AM
From: Anonymous Member
Subject: Bereavement Letters
This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
Hi!
We are in the process of developing our Bereavement Program as we are a brand new hospice. I am interested to see how many people write their own bereavement mailings (1,3,6,9,12, 13, etc.) vs purchasing them? If you write your own, would you be willing to share them or a template you used?
Thank you!