Family support services
Our experienced team of specialists within our Family Support Services include social workers, counsellors, children’s workers, therapists and spiritual support staff to help patients and their families adjust emotionally, spiritually and practically, at any stage of illness. Working with individuals or groups, our Family Support Services provide a variety of approaches to care for our community, including bereavement groups, children and young people’s services and spiritual care.
Bereavement support
Sky Kids FYI - Lifecycles
We are proud to be featured in the latest episode of Sky Kids FYI, in a film entitled ‘Lifecycles.’
The team filmed at the Hospice, exploring our Interactive Nature Trail with Lucy, whose dad was cared for on our Inpatient Unit, and Julia Davidson from our Family Services Team. The film is a welcome iteration of our vision of a society where death is a part of life, and the importance of destigmatising death and dying for children and young people.
You can watch the full episode of FYI on demand via Sky News YouTube, Sky Kids, and the First News website.
Read the transcription
Walking in nature, you can see the plants growing and then at some point they go back to the Earth making room for new life. It’s like a big circle of life showing us how everything is connected and that life changes.
I’m here in the grounds of Dorothy house Hospice Care, near bath, and there is so much nature here. They’ve opened a unique nature trail to the public which they hope will reduce people’s anxiety about death.
A hospice is a place where people who are very sick or nearing the end of their lives can receive care and support they’re designed to be peaceful and patients are made to feel as comfortable and pain-free as possible. Hospices also help their families.
Joining me on the trail today is Lucy. Her dad, Kevin, had cancer and came to stay in the hospice during his final days.
So what would you say is your favourite part of the ground?
My favourite area would probably be the fireflies because each one is dedicated to a different person who have died here. So last February my dad died here and when they put in the new fireflies, one’s dedicated to him so it’s really nice to just be alone in the woods and be able to grieve him.
How did the hospice help you personally?
They did so much I mean before he even died we spend hours in craft rooms making different bows plates and it’s nice to just be able to look at them and remember everything we did together and then after he died I was still receiving counselling but then I also got offered to go to teen groups it’s just nice to be able to have someone to talk to who is there to know what I’m going through.
Did people want to talk about your dad and what you’ve been through?
Most people were very hesitant they didn’t want to make me upset or bring up something when they thought it might trigger me.
I’m here with Julia Davidson who is Lucy’s counsellor. So how important is it that we know how to talk about death?
It is really really important especially for younger people to have been exposed to the kind of language we use around death there are lots of things that you probably shouldn’t be saying such as or it will get easier or you need to stay strong now you’ll be fine those sort of things are really not very helpful but saying look I’m really sorry what do you need you know do you want to to talk about it everybody deals with it differently and that’s why it’s so important to continue talking to them and sort of finding out where they’re at with their emotions.
So we’re finishing our walk under this amazing tree isn’t it weird that like trees live longer than us?
I know like these have been around for hundreds of years. Trees are often associated with the memory of loved ones although they cannot be seen we
know they are still there.
With your dad’s death do you believe that?
Yeah, I mean they’re not here but they’re still with us.
Yeah, it feels like that because you have all these memories of them so it feels like you know they’re still there with you.
Yeah, for you they’re still there they’re still in your everyday life.
Spiritual support
Spiritual support is an integral part of our care and is available for patients, families and loved ones – those of faith and no faith – from the point of a palliative diagnosis, through death and bereavement.
Our Spiritual Support has two main functions at Dorothy House:
- Support for patients, families and carers
- Support for the community – training and guidance
Community groups
Our Community Groups are based across Bath and North East Somerset, Somerset and Wiltshire.
We offer a wide range of groups that meet during the week and at weekends, virtually and in person. Some groups are for patients, some for carers, some for family and some for all three!
Emotional and psychological support
Living with a life-limiting illness is emotionally challenging for everyone. Individuals and families have their own resources and resilience, but sometimes it can be helpful to talk to someone outside the family. We offer patients and their loved ones a safe supportive space and the time to talk when they need it most.
Wellbeing spaces to reflect in nature, or to find serenity in grief
Creative therapies
Creative arts in a palliative care setting is a powerful and effective way of addressing the practical, psychological, social and spiritual issues a patient and their family may face throughout their journey of illness. The Creative Arts Team gives patients and their families the chance to explore a variety of creative arts and use various techniques to give them a focus and diversion at a difficult and emotional time.
Support for family, friends and carers
It can be extremely rewarding but we also recognise that it can be challenging helping a relative or friend go through difficult times, and it is important to ensure you have the right support too. All of the teams at Dorothy House are able to provide support to family, friends and carers of patients in our care.
Social work
Our Social Workers can support patients, their families and carers with many of the practical areas of life that having a palliative care diagnosis can have an impact on, and also provide emotional support where needed too.
When someone has died
Whatever you are feeling when your loved one has died is natural. Take your time and don’t rush. Often, everything will feel extremely overwhelming and busy regardless of how prepared you may have thought you were.
We share information about what to do immediately after a death, support for funeral planning and bereavement resources for you and your loved ones.
Safeguarding
Dorothy House is committed to safeguarding every adult and child who uses our services. We work in an open and transparent way and encourage staff, volunteers, patients and families to raise any concerns about wellbeing.
The Dorothy House Podcast
At Dorothy House, we provide outstanding palliative and end of life care to patients in our community. Listen to our podcast where we chat through those difficult conversations around death and dying, bust myths around hospice care, and shine a light on the services we provide. Grab yourself a cuppa and join us.
We have listed four podcast episodes below which discuss our bereavement support services, creative therapies at Dorothy House, social work in palliative care, and the psychological support available for both adults and children within our Family Support Services.