Bereavement Professional

We have just hired a Community Bereavement Coordinator at our hospice and are very excited about offering services to our community.  Is there anyone out there that offers this type of outreach that can speak to documentation, records, limitations to visits, etc?  We need to develop some policies and figure out if these visits will be documented in our regular hospice EMR or by another method.  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
Lori Showalter, CVA
Manager of Volunteer Services & Community Outreach
Augusta Health Hospice of the Shenandoah
------------------------------

     We have always provided the same type of support to community bereaved as we do  hospice bereaved. We track every single call into bereavement and separate out individual inquiries about our services as well as any outside agency calls. We also of course track every single visit - anticipatory grief versus post death. By tracking these statistics it helps 'prove' our value in the community and justifies the need to provide these services. We provide lots of trainings to churches, therapy practices, schools, and community groups and although we don't advertise ourselves as providing crisis response we can, most of the time, provide pretty prompt support to the community in the event of sudden school deaths, workplace accidents, etc. 
     Our 1:1 counseling services are short term because they are focused on education and support, after which we are, in most cases, encouraging them to connect witih others via one of our groups. In both 1:1 and group sessions we always track the number of hospice bereaved as well as community bereaved. When their need is greater than education and support we refer out to community therapists. We provide support for 16 months for both hospice and community bereaved but people have the option of continiuing to attend our groups or have individual support for about the first 2 years after the  death. After that we are redirecting them. Our documentation forms are the same for community bereaved as they are with hospice bereaved. We always  document their consent for services as well as document that we provided an NPP and request a signature.

------------------------------
Patti Anewalt, Director
Pathways Center for Grief & Loss
Hospice & Community Care
Mount Joy, PA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-30-2020 12:59
From: Lori Showalter
Subject: Community Bereavement Support

We have just hired a Community Bereavement Coordinator at our hospice and are very excited about offering services to our community.  Is there anyone out there that offers this type of outreach that can speak to documentation, records, limitations to visits, etc?  We need to develop some policies and figure out if these visits will be documented in our regular hospice EMR or by another method.  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
Lori Showalter, CVA
Manager of Volunteer Services & Community Outreach
Augusta Health Hospice of the Shenandoah
------------------------------

Thank you Patti for your great insight as well!  This is great!​

------------------------------
Lori Showalter, CVA
Manager of Volunteer Services & Community Outreach
Augusta Health Hospice of the Shenandoah
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-01-2020 09:13
From: Patti Anewalt
Subject: Community Bereavement Support

     We have always provided the same type of support to community bereaved as we do  hospice bereaved. We track every single call into bereavement and separate out individual inquiries about our services as well as any outside agency calls. We also of course track every single visit - anticipatory grief versus post death. By tracking these statistics it helps 'prove' our value in the community and justifies the need to provide these services. We provide lots of trainings to churches, therapy practices, schools, and community groups and although we don't advertise ourselves as providing crisis response we can, most of the time, provide pretty prompt support to the community in the event of sudden school deaths, workplace accidents, etc.
     Our 1:1 counseling services are short term because they are focused on education and support, after which we are, in most cases, encouraging them to connect witih others via one of our groups. In both 1:1 and group sessions we always track the number of hospice bereaved as well as community bereaved. When their need is greater than education and support we refer out to community therapists. We provide support for 16 months for both hospice and community bereaved but people have the option of continiuing to attend our groups or have individual support for about the first 2 years after the  death. After that we are redirecting them. Our documentation forms are the same for community bereaved as they are with hospice bereaved. We always  document their consent for services as well as document that we provided an NPP and request a signature.

------------------------------
Patti Anewalt, Director
Pathways Center for Grief & Loss
Hospice & Community Care
Mount Joy, PA

Original Message:
Sent: 09-30-2020 12:59
From: Lori Showalter
Subject: Community Bereavement Support

We have just hired a Community Bereavement Coordinator at our hospice and are very excited about offering services to our community.  Is there anyone out there that offers this type of outreach that can speak to documentation, records, limitations to visits, etc?  We need to develop some policies and figure out if these visits will be documented in our regular hospice EMR or by another method.  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
Lori Showalter, CVA
Manager of Volunteer Services & Community Outreach
Augusta Health Hospice of the Shenandoah
------------------------------

Wow Lori. How very forward thinking your hospice is! You are asking good questions and I would think carefully about what the scope of service is you will provide. If it were me, I would first do a thorough Needs Assessment of your community and see what bereavement services exist and then where there are gaps and then develop a strategic plan from there.  
My focus would be on developing partnerships and creating community-wide events, rather than offering individual bereavement counseling. Partnerships with the school system to do brv training and support groups; partnering with mortuaries, hospitals, nursing facilities, first responders, etc. You might set up a few community wide memorial services throughout the year- like at a botanical garden. You might create/support a kids camp (in partnership with children and grief center?) if there is not one in your area.
If you decide to provide individual counseling/therapy, then yes you need a Consent process, determine if you sill charge, etc, etc. Lots more to that. You might decide to just set up multiple support group offerings throughout the community, do events affiliated with the Grief Holidays like Mother's Day, Valentines Day, Holiday season. 
hope that helps

------------------------------
Robin Fiorelli LCSW
Sr. Director of Bereavement and Volunteers
VITAS
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-30-2020 12:59
From: Lori Showalter
Subject: Community Bereavement Support

We have just hired a Community Bereavement Coordinator at our hospice and are very excited about offering services to our community.  Is there anyone out there that offers this type of outreach that can speak to documentation, records, limitations to visits, etc?  We need to develop some policies and figure out if these visits will be documented in our regular hospice EMR or by another method.  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
Lori Showalter, CVA
Manager of Volunteer Services & Community Outreach
Augusta Health Hospice of the Shenandoah
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10/1/2020 11:14:00 AM
From: Robin Fiorelli
Subject: RE: Community Bereavement Support

Wow Lori. How very forward thinking your hospice is! You are asking good questions and I would think carefully about what the scope of service is you will provide. If it were me, I would first do a thorough Needs Assessment of your community and see what bereavement services exist and then where there are gaps and then develop a strategic plan from there.  
My focus would be on developing partnerships and creating community-wide events, rather than offering individual bereavement counseling. Partnerships with the school system to do brv training and support groups; partnering with mortuaries, hospitals, nursing facilities, first responders, etc. You might set up a few community wide memorial services throughout the year- like at a botanical garden. You might create/support a kids camp (in partnership with children and grief center?) if there is not one in your area.
If you decide to provide individual counseling/therapy, then yes you need a Consent process, determine if you sill charge, etc, etc. Lots more to that. You might decide to just set up multiple support group offerings throughout the community, do events affiliated with the Grief Holidays like Mother's Day, Valentines Day, Holiday season. 
hope that helps

------------------------------
Robin Fiorelli LCSW
Sr. Director of Bereavement and Volunteers
VITAS
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-30-2020 12:59
From: Lori Showalter
Subject: Community Bereavement Support

We have just hired a Community Bereavement Coordinator at our hospice and are very excited about offering services to our community.  Is there anyone out there that offers this type of outreach that can speak to documentation, records, limitations to visits, etc?  We need to develop some policies and figure out if these visits will be documented in our regular hospice EMR or by another method.  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
Lori Showalter, CVA
Manager of Volunteer Services & Community Outreach
Augusta Health Hospice of the Shenandoah
------------------------------

Lori our needs assessment includes interviews with our internal  leadership and key stake holders to get their input on what has worked/what would be valuable moving forward. Then for the external assessment we look at what other hospices are offering, children and grief orgs, faith institutions that provide bereavement opportunities, mortuaries, etc. you also want to look at your demographics and basically look for "holes" in bereavement service in your community where you may fill a niche.  Amazing how much we learn when we interview stakeholders!

------------------------------
Robin Fiorelli LCSW
Sr. Director of Bereavement and Volunteers
VITAS
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-01-2020 12:14
From: Lori Showalter
Subject: Community Bereavement Support

Hi Robin,

You are a wealth of knowledge and I so appreciate your insight.  Thanks for sharing these helpful thoughts as we envision what our program will look like.  We do plan to do some needs assessments before we dig too deep so that validation from you in that regard is helpful!  Do you have a needs assessment already created that we could glean from versus re-inventing the wheel?  I would love to see what worked for your hospice in developing this program.  Again, thanks for your time!  Have a great day! 

Lori Showalter, CVA

Manager of Volunteer Services & Community Outreach

P.O. Box 215, Fishersville, VA  22939

Office:  (540) 932-4904       Cell:  (540) 241-7246       Fax:  (540) 932-4974

LShowalter@augustahealth.com

 

 

 

 

Original Message:
Sent: 10/1/2020 11:14:00 AM
From: Robin Fiorelli
Subject: RE: Community Bereavement Support

Wow Lori. How very forward thinking your hospice is! You are asking good questions and I would think carefully about what the scope of service is you will provide. If it were me, I would first do a thorough Needs Assessment of your community and see what bereavement services exist and then where there are gaps and then develop a strategic plan from there.
My focus would be on developing partnerships and creating community-wide events, rather than offering individual bereavement counseling. Partnerships with the school system to do brv training and support groups; partnering with mortuaries, hospitals, nursing facilities, first responders, etc. You might set up a few community wide memorial services throughout the year- like at a botanical garden. You might create/support a kids camp (in partnership with children and grief center?) if there is not one in your area.
If you decide to provide individual counseling/therapy, then yes you need a Consent process, determine if you sill charge, etc, etc. Lots more to that. You might decide to just set up multiple support group offerings throughout the community, do events affiliated with the Grief Holidays like Mother's Day, Valentines Day, Holiday season.
hope that helps

------------------------------
Robin Fiorelli LCSW
Sr. Director of Bereavement and Volunteers
VITAS

Original Message:
Sent: 09-30-2020 12:59
From: Lori Showalter
Subject: Community Bereavement Support

We have just hired a Community Bereavement Coordinator at our hospice and are very excited about offering services to our community.  Is there anyone out there that offers this type of outreach that can speak to documentation, records, limitations to visits, etc?  We need to develop some policies and figure out if these visits will be documented in our regular hospice EMR or by another method.  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
Lori Showalter, CVA
Manager of Volunteer Services & Community Outreach
Augusta Health Hospice of the Shenandoah
------------------------------

Hi Robin, 

WOW!!!!  Thank you for such a detailed answer to Mrs. Lori's question.  You have provided multiple opportunities to explore in my community!  

Original Message:
Sent: 10-01-2020 11:13
From: Robin Fiorelli
Subject: Community Bereavement Support

Wow Lori. How very forward thinking your hospice is! You are asking good questions and I would think carefully about what the scope of service is you will provide. If it were me, I would first do a thorough Needs Assessment of your community and see what bereavement services exist and then where there are gaps and then develop a strategic plan from there.
My focus would be on developing partnerships and creating community-wide events, rather than offering individual bereavement counseling. Partnerships with the school system to do brv training and support groups; partnering with mortuaries, hospitals, nursing facilities, first responders, etc. You might set up a few community wide memorial services throughout the year- like at a botanical garden. You might create/support a kids camp (in partnership with children and grief center?) if there is not one in your area.
If you decide to provide individual counseling/therapy, then yes you need a Consent process, determine if you sill charge, etc, etc. Lots more to that. You might decide to just set up multiple support group offerings throughout the community, do events affiliated with the Grief Holidays like Mother's Day, Valentines Day, Holiday season.
hope that helps

------------------------------
Robin Fiorelli LCSW
Sr. Director of Bereavement and Volunteers
VITAS

Original Message:
Sent: 09-30-2020 12:59
From: Lori Showalter
Subject: Community Bereavement Support

We have just hired a Community Bereavement Coordinator at our hospice and are very excited about offering services to our community.  Is there anyone out there that offers this type of outreach that can speak to documentation, records, limitations to visits, etc?  We need to develop some policies and figure out if these visits will be documented in our regular hospice EMR or by another method.  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
Lori Showalter, CVA
Manager of Volunteer Services & Community Outreach
Augusta Health Hospice of the Shenandoah
------------------------------