Pemi-Baker Hospice & Home Health is offering a FREE grief and loss support series starting Tuesday, February 15th running through March 29th, 2022. Late morning and early evening times will accommodate all schedules and we invite anyone experiencing a personal loss to join us.
Since Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ pioneering work On Death and Dying in 1969, research and study on the very human experiences of grief and loss have come a very long way. The “five stages of grief” entered quickly into the storehouse of wisdom in the popular culture. Many people can tick off “Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance” when asked about the process of grieving. As helpful as these categories can be in opening up discussion, the truth is that “stage theory” has fallen on hard times in psychological studies.
Put simply, life experience is much too dynamic and deeply personal to fall into neat and progressive stages that follow one upon the other in predictable fashion. Kubler-Ross herself did not see her theory as being that way. It took our characteristically American linear way of thinking to do that. Generally speaking, we like things neat, but life is messy. Over the course of almost four decades, other theorists have included additional features in grieving, such as “shock”, “guilt”, “retreating”, “reflection”, “isolation”, and “working through”. There is a lot to consider if we are in the thick of trying to come to terms with a significant loss that has come into our life.
In a practical effort to begin to explore the intricate web of responses and reactions that human beings experience following upon significant life-losses, the Hospice program of Pemi-Baker Hospice & Home Health in Plymouth will be offering a series on “Loss and Grief: Some Basics” as part of its Bereavement services. The series consists of six sessions. Each session will include a brief educational presentation, a reflective exercise to assist participants in focusing on their experience of loss, and a time for sharing, questions, and discussion. Sessions will include such topics as: “My Concept of Loss”, “Evaluating My Loss”, “Coping Skills”, “Manifestations of Grief”, “What Helps and What Hurts?”, “Acceptance”, “My New Reality”, and “Recognizing My Strengths”.
The six week series will be offered on Tuesdays at two different times: a late morning group 11am-12:30pm or an evening group 5:30pm -7pm. In-person participation is limited to five people for each group; there will be hand sanitizer, socially-distanced seating and masks are required. Please pre-register with Guy Tillson, Bereavement Coordinator by email (gtillson@pbhha.org) or by phone (603-536-2232). Pre-registration required by Tuesday, February 8th, 2022. Ask about possible accommodations virtually via ZOOM.
With over 55 years of experience, serving clients from 29 towns in central and northern New Hampshire, Pemi-Baker Hospice & Home Health is committed to creating healthier communities. Services include at-home healthcare (VNA), hospice and palliative care, and Community Programs including: American Red Cross CPR/AED/FA, Caregiver Support Groups and Grief and Bereavement Support Groups. Providing compassionate care with experienced staff who are trained, certified professionals in the business because of their hearts. In your time of need, we’re right where you need us.
Pemi-Baker is located at 101 Boulder Point Drive, Suite 3, Plymouth, NH. To contact us please call: 603-536-2232 or email: info@pbhha.org Like our Facebook Page: @PBCH4
Another benefit that at-home therapy provides, is the opportunity to assess the safety and accessibility of the home environment. A therapist’s trained eyes can spot fall hazards or bathroom dangers and provide helpful preventive advice.
The existence of hospice makes this level of freedom available to many who otherwise would not have had it. Hospice care offers 24/7 clinical support, medication and pain management, assistance with daily living activities, medical supplies and equipment, volunteer support and companionship, social, spiritual and grief support from social workers and chaplains, for the whole family.
The elderly who wish to retain the freedom of staying in their home and ending their lives on their own terms experience true psychological benefits. Their comfortable surroundings allow them to end their lives with a sense of dignity, which is incredibly valuable. In fact, home care harkens back to older days, when tending to the terminally ill at home was the standard. There’s always the added benefit of being closer to their loved ones in their final days.
With over 50 years of experience, serving clients from 28 towns in central and northern New Hampshire, Pemi-Baker Community Health is committed to creating healthier communities. Services include at-home healthcare (VNA), hospice and palliative care, on-site physical and occupational therapy and aquatic therapy in their 90-degree therapy pool. Providing compassionate care with experienced staff who are trained, certified professionals in the business because of their hearts. In your time of need, we’re right where you need us.
Through all this, we see Alice’s progressive deterioration through the loss of her teaching career, her advancing inability to recognize those closest to her, disorientation within her own home, an interrupted suicide attempt, her husband’s decision to relocate in favor of his professional betterment, and the loving self-sacrifice of Lydia to care for her. Despite the wasting away of the many qualities that made her the person she had been, she remains “still Alice” in a brief moment of recall when she is able to identify the importance of love.
“The Father” features Olivia Colman (currently seen as Queen Elizabeth II in Seasons Three and Four of the series “The Crown”). For her portrayal as Anne, Anthony’s daughter, Colman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
What to do about emerging potentially aggressive behaviors? How to live with the strain imposed on other intimate relationships? When does one arrive at the point of surrendering caregiving to a corps of providers in a setting that may better manage the patient’s needs? Hopkins’ masterful performance in this intense drama can be seen on You Tube, Amazon Prime, and Vudu.
