Bereavement Care
Bereavement support is an integral part of hospice care at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. StarShine Hospice provides a variety of bereavement support services based on the needs of individuals, families and the community. StarShine's goal is that each family will be able to integrate the loss in a way that helps the survivors to support one another and to grow from this tragic loss.
All hospice staff and volunteers have received extensive training. Each is experienced in the care of dying children and in grief support following the death of a child.
StarShine Hospice Staff offers Family-centered Care
Throughout the time hospice is caring for the dying child, families are helped to make decisions that enable the child to die in comfort. Families are encouraged to make end-of-life decisions for or with their child so the event may be as meaningful and comforting as possible.
Hospice staff attend the funeral or visitation, and if the family wishes, the chaplain may conduct the service. Many families choose to have StarShine Hospice provide a balloon launch at the service, during which mourners write notes to the deceased child, place the notes on the balloon string and then launch them en masse. It is both a therapeutic and beautiful experience which one child described as "a million rainbows."
Coping with Death
Dying children often have connections with the community, and community members sometimes use the support of StarShine Hospice to cope with their loss. StarShine staff may visit classrooms and team or club meetings in advance of the death to help children, teachers and coaches to prepare for the death. Follow-up meetings after the death are offered to provide information and support.
The anticipatory grief support that families receive during hospice care is a crucial factor in helping families cope with the death of a child. StarShine Hospice then builds upon this foundation by offering on-going contacts by hospice staff members.
Bereaved parents often need to tell their story again and again to begin to accept and integrate the loss into their future lives. It helps to know that the nurse, chaplain, social worker / child life specialist also knew the child, knows what the family has been through and cares enough to listen.
Bereavement Support
All families are offered home bereavement visits whenever they feel the need. Families are called periodically to offer support and assess for any concerns related to the loss of the child. Families appreciate that StarShine Hospice remembers and honors the child's birthday, death anniversary and other significant days. Hospice offers families creative suggestions to help them remember and celebrate their child's life.
StarShine Hospice provides families with informative and supportive literature. Staff remain available to bereaved families 24 hours a day. Families are helped to identify coping difficulties that may require medical or psychiatric intervention.
StarShine formally offers bereavement support for two years after the death, but families are extended an invitation to contact StarShine at any time in the future should questions or concerns develop.
For more information about the StarShine Hospice, please call 513-636-4663, or e-mail starshine@cchmc.org.
