Table of Contents - Living With Grief: At Work, At School, At Worship (1999)
Foreword
Jack D. Gordon
Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Where We Grieve
Kenneth J. Doka - A Primer on Loss and Grief
Kenneth J. Doka - Supporting the Grieving Employee
Marcia E. Lattanzi-Licht - Grief in the Law Enforcement Workplace: The Police Experience
Michael Kirby - Grief at Work: New Challenges and New Opportunities
Robert Zucker
Programs That Work: Starbucks Coffee Company - Death in the Military Workplace
Bonnie Carroll - AIDS in the Workplace
Veronica Ryan Coleman - When Caregivers Grieve
Paul R. Brenner
Practical Suggestions: At Work - The Grieving Child in the School Environment
Jennie D. Matthews - School as a Resource for HIV-Affected Children and Youth
Carol Levine and Azadeh Khalili
Programs That Work: Calvary Hospital - The Grieving College Student
Robert L. Wrenn
Practical Suggestions: At School - Ministry at the End of Life
Marilyn Barney - Ritual Responses to Death
Paul E. Irion
Programs That Work: Evergreen Community Hospice - The Religious Community in Times of Loss: Strong, Loving, and Wise
Patrick M. Del Zoppo
Practical Suggestions: At Worship - Caregiving Communities
Myra MacPherson - Giving and Receiving Help During Later Life Spousal Bereavement
Dale A. Lund - If I Am not for Myself: Caring for Yourself as a Caregiver for Those Who Grieve
James E. Miller
Resource Organizations
References
Foreword
Jack D. Gordon, President
Hospice Foundation of America
One of the central tenets of hospice is that the unit of care is not just the patient, but also the patient's family, and that family is defined to be whomever the patient decides. (This is also one of the fundamental differences between hospice care and other forms of medical care). In a very real sense in our society, the workplace has become a kind of extended family. Businesses have responded to the changing needs of American families by adding programs that reflect this connection between work and life, such as flexible work schedules, onsite childcare, and support for employees caring for aging parents or other loved ones. It follows, then, that grief and bereavement issues affect a workplace as well.
This is why Hospice Foundation of America undertakes the 1999 Living With Grief teleconference on grief in the workplace, as well as the other places of our lives, of which this volume is the companion piece.
Why is it that the effects of a death in the workplace mirror the effects of a death in the family? For many years the diagnosis of a chronic or life-threatening illness meant that a person would almost inevitably leave work. Now there are more options. There has been a change in philosophy, too--one that stresses that even in the midst of illness it is important to continue to live life as normally as possible. For many people, that includes maintaining a connection to their work environments, schools, and places of worship.
Yet the nuclear family has become smaller as grown children often live far from aging parents. And caring for a loved one who is ill while juggling a full-time job is a daunting task. Guilt feelings arising out of such conditions, or grief resulting from impending loss, can result in diminished ability to effectively accomplish workplace tasks. It is not uncommon for these dynamics to affect co-workers, thereby inserting a weakened link in the work team. In similar ways, relationships in schools or faith communities can be strained as well.
As the illness progresses or after the patient dies, employees will continue to go to work. And they will be grieving their loss. Grief is not contained by time or place. Loved ones will grieve not only at home but also at work, school, or worship. How well organizations respond to the grieving persons in their midst will either complicate or facilitate their grief. The sensitivity of persons within these environments, especially those in leadership roles, as well as the flexibility and support of organizational policies, can therefore have profound effects on the course of the grieving experience. And the better the organizations respond, the more rapidly they can become completely focused on their missions, as work teams return to cohesiveness.
Hospices can help. Under Medicare law, bereavement services are provided to the families of hospice patients for up to a year after death. Because of that mission, hospices have developed a unique expertise in the care of the bereaved. Hospices bring their decades of experience and extensive knowledge of the nature of the bereavement process to work, school, and faith communities. Such assistance not only supports family members in their grief but also empowers them to take more significant roles in the care of the dying loved one. By lessening the stress or conflict between their work and school roles and their family responsibilities and by strengthening the support from their faith communities, hospices can provide critical support to both family members and dying patients. Organizations are a major beneficiary of this valuable hospice activity. And these activities help hospices by broadening their mission as well as sources of referral and support.
It is my hope that the lessons learned from this book will help hospices to truly become a central resource in their communities, by reaching out to people in all places of their lives--at work, at school, at worship. It is also my hope that the issues raised here will lead to the extension of hospice care to a wider number of people, as well as exert a humane influence on both the workplace and the healthcare system.
[Note: Mr. Gordon served as Chairman and CEO of HFA until his death in 2005.]
