Bereavement Professional

  • 1.  Bereavement Contacts

    Posted 12-11-2020 01:22 PM
    Happy Friday!

    I am a new Bereavement manager and curious to how and what type of contacts you make to the clients in a 13 month period.  Do you do a 9 month call?  A 12 month call?  I know some places do more calls and less letters or a mix.  Would love to get some feedback on this.

    Thank you!


  • 2.  RE: Bereavement Contacts

    Posted 12-11-2020 01:30 PM

    Our process here at Hope is within 48/72 hours of death we have the team SW call family to offer condolences and remind families about bereavement care following. Then the team BC calls at 3 weeks and then a trained volunteer at 3 months. We also have our letters going out at 2, 5, 10, 13 months. Of course, if someone is higher risk or needs follow up sooner than 3 weeks than the team collaborates on that request, but we usually know who those folks on from IDG mtgs and anticipatory grief needs. For our hospice pediatrics program, we follow them for 24 months with additional calls and letters over the course of that time frame. We are finding this year that we are making more calls and staying on the calls longer due to COVID, holidays, etc.

    Michelle Milita LMHC, CT
    Manager, Bereavement Services
    Email: 
    Michelle.Milita@hopehcs.org
    Phone: 
    239‑489‑9189
    Cell: 239‑888‑0487
    13821 North Cleveland Ave
    North Fort Myers
    , 
    FL 33903
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  • 3.  RE: Bereavement Contacts

    Posted 12-14-2020 01:16 PM
    Linnie,
    Our Bereavement calls/letters typically fall into this schedule:
    • 2-4 days - a condolence call from the nurse and chaplain (if the chaplain was involved with the family)
    • 1st week - sympathy card sent that is signed by the staff
    • 2 weeks - 1st newsletter
    • w/in 30 days - contact is made by me, the Bereavement Coordinator (follow-up calls continue every 2 months or so by myself or our chaplain)
    • 2 months - 2nd newsletter
    • 4 months - letter about Grief Support Groups and our Grief Share monthly call-in group
    • 6 months - 3rd newsletter
    • 9 months - letter
    • 12 months - anniversary/thinking of you card
    • 13 months - final newsletter


    ------------------------------
    Joel Fletcher
    Bereavement Coordinator
    Commonwealth Hospice, Danville, VA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Bereavement Contacts

    Posted 12-14-2020 03:34 PM
    Hi,
    The MSW/Spiritual Counselor goes out at time of death. Then a sympathy card is sent out signed by the IDT. A letter from our hospice  director is sent out the first of the month after the death extending sympathy and explaining bereavement services. Calls are made by trained volunteers at 2 weeks, 2 months, 4 months, 7 months, 10 months and 12 months.  Mailing are done at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months 11 months, 13 months. We also send a Holiday bereavement mailing to all in December.  These are in addition to our Bereavement counselor making contact with the family at regular intervals.
    All calls and bereaved responses are documented and if necessary the bereavement counselor or MSW/Spiritual counselor is notified and the family is contacted.
    The calls seem to be very important this year since people are isolated and many were not able to have closure (no services due to covid).

    ------------------------------
    Barbara Raby
    Volunteer Coordinator
    Franciscan Hospice Care
    Meriden, CT 06451
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Bereavement Contacts

    Posted 12-14-2020 03:36 PM
    Hi again, Linnie.  Welcome to the fold!
    We send a condolence card, a one month letter (with a psycho-ed material and suggested readings and our upcoming group calendar), a six month "mailer" (eye catching picture on outside, inside some inspirational quotes and reminder about our services), and a thirteen month letter with the EGSS survey.  We make calls within first month for Short Stay (less than 5 days on service; made by trained volunteers), within first month for High Risk (counselors), and at the three month mark (trained volunteers).   Again, hope this helps you get a sense of what some other programs are doing!

    ------------------------------
    April Evans, LICSW
    Manager of Bereavement Services
    Care Dimensions
    Danvers/Waltham Massachusetts
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Bereavement Contacts

    Posted 12-15-2020 12:14 PM
    Hi Linnie- we usually provide an assessment call within 1 - 2 months of the death. That could be earlier based on risk. We then allow our Individualized Care Plan to drive future call and visit needs.

    ------------------------------
    Karen Monts
    Director, Grief Support Services & Practice Manager, Counseling Services
    Northstar Care Community
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Bereavement Contacts

    Posted 12-16-2020 10:27 AM

    I work for a hospice that is associated with the LHC group and I believe it is the practice that our services include:

    A newsletter mailed out at 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months and a 1 yr. 

    Information about our call in-grief support group with every mailing (since covid restrictions)

    For high risk bereaved we have guidelines as to how quickly to respond to the bereaved and are allowed calls and visits based on Care Plan and need.

    We are a small hospice under 40 census and I personally work with the Social Worker to determine if the visits are best made by the Social Worker, or myself the Bereavement Coordinator. 

    She has only taken on bereavement for one family in the last year.  The family was a long term hospice stay and they did not want volunteer services so I had never met them in person.  The spouse has a bit of dementia and we determined that it was best if the social worker made the "contacts" rather than introducing another new person. 

    Hope this helps.

    Thanks,

    Julie Beck

     

    Julie Beck, LBSW

    Volunteer & Bereavement Coordinator

    UP Health System Home Care & Hospice

    901 W. Sharon Avenue Suite #1

    Houghton, MI   49931

    (906)-483-1160   Option 2

    julie.beck@lhcgroup.com

     



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  • 8.  RE: Bereavement Contacts

    Posted 12-16-2020 11:56 AM
    It is so interesting to see how different hospices handle this, and helps germinate ideas. In our case, either myself or a trained volunteer calls the family within 5 days (TJC/CMS requirement?) and, if the family accepts bereavement services, we do an assessment which leads to assigning a level of care based on their CBRAT score. Low, medium, high, or mailings only. Each of these had a different plan of care, but the all include customized mailings at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 13 months. Finally, everyone gets a grief packet with a personalized letter within two weeks, regardless of whether they have chosen bereavement services.

    ------------------------------
    Rev. Dr. Don Stouder
    Bereavement and Volunteer Coordinator
    Reliance Hospice
    Palm Desert, California
    dstouder@reliancehospice.net
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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