Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Cara – Intellectual disabilities, sharing and expressing about grief

Cara discusses how it’s very important that people living with intellectual disabilities have the opportunity to not only know about the information about the person being ill and dying and having the choice and opportunity to go to after death rituals. It’s also really important that they get the opportunity to share their story in whatever way they communicate. This can be verbally through sign language, through communication books, art, music, going for walks, being in nature

Donna – “Living with grief”

Donna talks about the threads of grief and her personal experience.

Maureen – “Carrying grief”

Maureen gives an analogy of how hard it is to carry griefMaureen gives an analogy of how hard it is to carry grief.

Keith – “Hope”

Keith talks about time, healing and hope.

Collective Grief

When the death of a person affects many members in a community, city, country, or across the world, people will experience collective grief.

These are some things that can help people through the experience of collective grief across a community.

Grief & Drug Poisoning Toolkit [Free Downloadable PDF]

  Navigating life, death, and loss can be overwhelming. This toolkit is designed by mental health professionals and contains information about grief, different types of grief we may experience, gentle reminders on how to move through grief, as well as tips for those who may be supporting someone in their life who is grieving. This…

Christian – “Remembering together in a meaningful way”

Christian discusses the power of memories.

Cheryl – “What is grief”

Cheryl defines grief and talks about how we all grieve differently.

Shannon – Power of Presence

Shannon discusses how just showing up, being present is a powerful way of supporting to someone who has lost. Listen more – talk less.

Amanda – “The Little Things”

Amanda talks about how little things can be a huge gift during palliative care.

Alongside

That is also our best, and only role, when supporting a person with a developmental disability to grieve. We must be the one that comes alongside. There is no closer place we can get to. We must be present, be with, perhaps not understanding or comprehending what the person we support is experiencing, but alongside them nonetheless. We must be there, ready to provide whatever we can discover of their unique need in grief.

Jessica M – A Parking Lot Memorial

Jessica shares how her family gathered after her uncle died during COVID and how her family came up with a creative way of getting together in a parking lot.