Hi Allison, we have moved all of our groups online and all of then are open to anyone in the community as they were before our groups went online. I am not sure what you mean by conserving the privacy of your hospice families? Our group members are free to share or not share that their loved one was a patient with us.
We have drop-in groups that do not require pre-registraion. If people have attended groups or counseling in the past, they receive an email at the start of each month with the information to join. We list details of the drop-in groups, but not list the links on our website. So if they are new, they need to call in to get the information to join. That way we reduce the risk of our groups being hacked.
We also have closed 8-week groups, typically based on the type of loss although we also have Healing Grief Holistically and Expressive Arts Groups. These require pre-registration. We have started four 8-week groups online so far.
I hope this helps!
Maggie Cochran, LCSW
Bereavement Supervisor
Hospice Austin
4107 Spicewood Springs Rd, Suite 100
Austin, TX 78759
512-342-4784
www.HospiceAustin.org
This e-mail message may contain information that is privileged, confidential, or exempt from disclosure. It is intended for use only by the person to whom it is addressed. If you have received this message in error, please delete it immediately. Thank you.
Original Message:
Sent: 05-12-2020 08:46
From: Allison Urda
Subject: Online Groups
Hi All!
I know there are previous threads discussing online groups, but I did not see anyone in discussing if these groups are open or closed to the public? Our support group is open to the public and we have been discussing how to best do the online group to help our bereaved through this time without limiting it to hospice families but also conserving their privacy. Has anyone gone through a similar situation?
------------------------------
Allison Mull, BSW
Bereavement Coordinator
VCU Health CMH
Community Hospice
------------------------------