Understanding and Managing Grief & Caregiving, June 5 - June 11, 2022

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

The loss of a baby is an undeniably singular and terrible loss. And for those who haven’t experienced this type of loss, it can be difficult to know what to say or do or how to help. But social support is one of the ways that humans get through grief, and how you respond to your colleague affects their experience of returning to work and overall well-being. Distilled from the experiences of grieving parents, the author offers ways to best support team members who face this devastating loss.How to Support a Colleague Who Just Lost a Baby « Harvard Business Review

Creating or connecting with art may work as a therapeutic tool for grief. Here's how and why art therapy and freestyle art creation can help. Grief Art: How Artistic Expression Can Help You Cope « Psych Central

Families of people with dementia are sometimes reluctant to use hospice care. It can feel like you are giving up on your loved one. But hospice care often provides excellent care and relieves anxiety and sadness compared to dementia patients who do not receive hospice care, according to a new study published in Health Affairs. How Hospice Can Help People With Dementia During Their Final Days « Healthline

Palliative care evolved as it became apparent there were specific resources and approaches to care adopted by hospice providers that could have utility in patients who were not imminently dying . . . the term “palliative care” defined an approach to care that focused on the relief of suffering and improvement of quality of life for those living with serious illness. What’s the difference between hospice and palliative care? « Seniors Matter 

In a culture that so often defines mental health by our ability to produce, function, work, minimally impact others, and appear as “normal” as possible, however, there is no space for grief. This makes the addition of prolonged grief disorder to the newly updated DSM, short for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (aka the “bible of psychiatry”), even more disturbing and misguided. Why Prolonged Grief Shouldn’t Be Considered a Mental Illness—Especially During a Pandemic « Well+Good

[My mother] rests in a lovely cemetery but unfortunately I've had lots of trouble with the owners of the burial ground - they are monied people and think they can keep changing the rules on what family of the bereaved can plant on the graves. In Grief: Failing to Protect My Mother « Grief Healing 

Recently, a few surprise deaths and sudden funerals have made me reexamine what I say when I am faced with a grieving loved one. Overanalyzing grief in an attempt to help others « The Courier Express

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