Palliative Care:
Hospice L&A provides palliative care to terminally ill people of this community and support to their caregivers. Our trained volunteers provide hours of care and compassion at no expense to the client. These volunteers are men and women who wish to make a difference in the lives of others. Volunteer responsibilities may include: providing companionship and support to the client and family, preparing light meals, carrying out light household tasks, giving family some time off by staying with the client, providing simple comfort measures for a client such as bedside care or repositioning, or simply offering a friendly, listening ear. Clients are carefully matched with the right volunteer and confidentiality is a priority.

Bereavement Support:

“The journey of grief is often like the flow of a
waterfall moving from turbulence to quietness.”

Are you or is someone you know grieving the loss of a loved one? Hospice L&A offers a Bereavement Program; a program of compassionate care for those facing grief in the greater Napanee area.

The journey of grief is like the flow of a waterfall. Grief has a natural process, much like the journey of a waterfall: powerful, continuous and sometimes raging. The tumble of water over rocks resembles the current of grief, flowing through rough and rocky places, until, like the waterfall, we reach a calmer, more peaceful place. While each person's experience on the journey of grief will be different, it does not have to be walked alone. Hospice L&A's Bereavement Program is a natural extension of Hospice's mandate: to provide palliative care and support, through trained volunteers, to clients diagnosed with a terminal illness, and to their loved ones, at no cost to the client or family.

The Bereavement Program assists families and friends grieveing the diagnosis of a terminal illness, or those now grieving the loss of their loved one. Our programs, again, offer care and compassion at no cost to the client and through trained bereavement volunteers. We want to support others in the community who are dealing with the emotions of grief. A variety of programs are now available such as:

     • Mourning Has Broken Bereavement Support Group - This group is confidential, caring and provides an opportunity to be with people who know and feel the pain you may be experiencing.

      • Facing the Holidays - Many who are grieving experience heightened emotional pain and uncertainty as special holidays approach. Ideas and tips on how to get through holidays and other special days are shared.

      • Lending Library …. Books & Videos - Hospice is pleased to loan reading materials or videos on a regular basis. Understanding how grief usually unfolds will help.

Child & Youth Bereavement Support:
Hospice L&A provides bereavement and grief support for children and youth between the ages of 4-18 who are coping with a significant loss (e.g., parent, grandparent, sibling, or friend). The purpose of the bereavement peer support program is to provide a safe, supportive, and caring environment in which individuals can share their grief experiences with others who share common experiences. By interacting and sharing stories with others, it is hoped that these children and youth find comfort in knowing that there are also others dealing with similar situations and that they are not alone. These services are offered free of charge to children and youth in the L&A community and confidentiality is respected.

Child Peer Support Program:
This program is offered to children 4-14 years of age who have experienced the loss of someone close to them. The in-session activities are interactive and therapeutic, and create opportunities to talk about the loss. Program runs for 12 weeks (one session per week, after regular school hours), the session length will depend on the ages of the children.

Youth Peer Support Program:
This program is offered to students attending grades 9-12 at a local high school, who are grieving the death of someone close to them. The program was developed by Hospice L&A and has been tailored to assist teens in their grief journey (e.g., learn healthy ways to cope with the death, remember the deceased, and identify the range of feelings caused by the loss). The program runs for 8 weeks (one session per week, after school) and transportation can be arranged.

Palliative Care Training:
Hospice L&A offers a Palliative Care Training course which is open to people of all ages. It is a valuable learning experience, offered twice a year and is free of charge. It runs 10 weeks for a total of 30 hours. Presentations topics include: pain control and comfort, death and bereavement, and communication and family dynamics. In addition there will be an opportunity for the participants to tour a Crematorium and Funeral Home, which students have found very interesting and educational.

The Douglas Thompson Children's Wish Fund:
The Douglas Thompson Children's Wish Fund was created in memory of one whose life evidenced a love and care for children. While Hospice L&A has in the past worked principally with adults, this unique wish fund is for children up to 19 years of age, with palliative care needs or life threatening circumstances and whose needs or wishes are beyond their family’s physical or financial reach. Recipients must reside in the Lennox and Addington County.

Lending Library:
Hospice L&A offers a wide selection of books and videos dealing with such topics as palliative care, anticipatory grief, and bereavement issues. Every year Hospice L&A endeavors to update our selection of reading materials. Feel free to stop by our office and browse through our selection.