AHS program offers support for grieving individuals

DRAYTON VALLEY — Local residents grieving the death of a loved one can learn coping techniques by attending an Alberta Health Services (AHS) bereavement program, now accepting registrations.

The free, eight-week program teaches participants how to cope with one’s grief. In small group settings, participants also receive and offer support and understanding.

“Grief is a process; it takes time to work through,” says Susan Kathol, volunteer coordinator for the Drayton Valley Hospital and Care Centre. “We want to offer support to people through that process.”

Developed in partnership with the AHS Volunteer Resources department and the Red Deer Hospice Society, the bereavement program is open to both men and women. The program provides support to family members and caregivers, focusing on a different topic each week, designed to give people information and strategies from trained facilitators.

The sessions are led by trained volunteer facilitators and will cover the following topics:

• Getting Started — Where Do I Begin?
• Conversations with Myself and Others
• Regret, Resiliency and Rebuild
• Suspenders and Other Support Systems
• Who Am I Now?
• This Isn’t Goodbye — This is Healing
• Plan “B”— Strategies for “Those Days”

The bereavement program will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on eight consecutive Thursdays starting Sept. 13 at the Wild Rose Room of the Drayton Valley Hospital and Care Centre (4550 Madsen Ave.).

For further information or to register, please call Volunteer Resources at 780-514-7171. Registration for the program closes Aug. 30.

Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.

- 30 -