This informal CPD article Dealing with death each and every day was provided by Let’s Get Healthy, a multi-award winning corporate health and wellbeing provider.
There are a group of hero’s who work each and every day with patients, customers, colleagues and support those who have a lost a loved one. They are a hidden workforce who at the time of most need;
- register our death claim,
- bury our dead,
- care for our most precious family members right up until they pass away
- guide those left to adapt to a new way of life
What we often forget is that the day of death is just the start of the journey, both for the family of those whose hearts are breaking and the colleagues who begin their process of support. What struck the team at Let’s Get Healthy was the growing need to help these hero’s build their personal resilience to the daily challenges they encounter in their professional life.
They help people mourn from different cultures, they deal with vulnerability with a nobility that many of us aspire to, they support those with mental health problems as they would anyone; deprivation, substance abuse, lack of financial wellbeing, anger, tears, they deal with it all, often with no formal training.
Topics of learning that help
These workers are the at the heart of our community and building up their tools and techniques to learn about the following is so incredibly rewarding;
- Understand the stages of grief and the associated behaviours
- Learn about the act of mourning and how to support those in need
- Discuss and adapt their ways of working to support the vulnerable
- Safeguard their own mental health and building up tools and techniques to become resilience to the daily challenges
- Integrate self-care methodologies to understand and cope with compassion fatigue
- Cope with vicarious traumatisation
- Know where to go for help
What’s working
There are many ways of supporting these colleagues as well as workshops and online learning. The following have been introduced with the employers we work with, all with huge success;
- Peer to peer support networks to increase support and help identify problems early on
- Personal journey videos for those new to the role to learn from experienced colleagues
- Team meeting huddles where topics such as ‘sympathy V empathy’ are openly discussed
- Monthly newsletters which shared tools and techniques to help everyone
- Insight groups to review processes that are aimed to support the most vulnerable and improvements made where needed
- Local and national signposting campaigns to bring help to the door of those in need
- Toolkits packed with techniques to build daily resilience
- Quarterly quizzes to unite teams and remove the sense of isolation
Developing an annual programme to train all of these valuable colleagues not only helps them become brave and strong hearted but also the employer and the community they work within.
We hope this article was helpful. For more information from Let’s Get Healthy, please visit their CPD Member Directory page. Alternatively please visit the CPD Industry Hubs for more CPD articles, courses and events relevant to your Continuing Professional Development requirements.
