Hospice of Chattanooga shares online support groups, resources to maintain community connection

Keeping contact with friends and family is critical part of our support system at any time in life, and for those who’ve faced loss, grief support, especially, cannot be overlooked. And during this uncharted territory of COVID-19, it may be even more important than ever, and thanks to the online offerings provided by Alleo Health’s Hospice of Chattanooga, people don’t have to lose that lifeline.

“We have a host of support groups yearround that meet regularly, and we’ve moved those to virtual meetings to help people continue their grief journeys,” said Lily Quinn, Strategic Communications Officer.

Groups are offered and geared for both adults and children to help meet the unique needs of each demographic.

For those unfamiliar with the various groups offered, a brief list is below:

• Brave New World: Virtual support groups for those who have lost a spouse/ partner, Wednesdays from 2-3:30 p.m. ET

• Healing Hearts Family Night: Virtual support groups for children who have experienced the death of a loved one, meets the first and third Thursdays of the month from 6-7 p.m. EST.

• Weekly Facebook Lives with the Grief Support team – Thursdays at 4 p.m. on the Hospice of Chattanooga Facebook page

• Juggling Act: Navigating parenting through grief and COVID-19, with scheduled sessions: May 13, 20, 27 and June 3, 10, 17 from 11 a.m. to noon. This group looks at not only grief but also all the changes of our current time and culture resulting from COVID-19 including validating, normalizing, and educating people so they feel less fragmented with all that’s happening around them.

• Creativity through Grief and Stress: creative ways to express feelings surrounding COVID-19, with scheduled sessions: May 14, 21, 28 and June 4, 11, 18 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. This group in particular provides an outlet for those who thrive on different modalities of creating to manage grief, as opposed to those who are very verbal.

• Living with Grief: exploring stages of grief for any adult who has experienced the death of a loved one with scheduled sessions: May 19, 26 and June 2, 9, 16, 23 from 5:30-7 p.m. This session is more of a psycho-educational support group that looks through all the stages whether you’ve loss of a spouse, parent, an adult child, or a combination of losses.

The online sessions largely utilize the growing popular platform Zoom, and as they are traditional support group settings, they are not recorded to maintain privacy, per Hospice of Chattanooga’s Director of Grief Counseling, Susan Latta.

“Whatever is said there, stays there,” she shared. “We really want to keep the connection going among everyone in the midst of this isolation.”

Latta went on to say that typical sessions include check-ins among participants, a sharing time and a closing circle. For children’s groups, there’s also an activity to help engage members in between sharing.

Alleo Health also offers a very valuable online resources page on the Hospice of Chattanooga’s website under their blog, along with virtual in-services for facilities and physicians to stay up to date on all their offerings, protocols, and continued education.

During the weekly Facebook lives, those who tune in can expect to learn about important tools to help with naming their grief along with some tactics to have readily available as new developments in the journey arise. All previous Facebook live events can be accessed through the Hospice of Chattanooga blog page.

For all scheduled sessions and groups, there are limited spots, but as demand and need is made known, Latta shared that more can be added to help accommodate everyone.

“Continued group support will be offered if people wish to participate beyond the scheduled groups as well,” said Latta. “If anyone needs to be connected to additional community resources, our staff works to make sure that happens.”

Those who wish to be added to a support group can contact Susan Latta at 423-805-7112 or susan_latta@hospiceofchattanooga.org.

As always, all groups and resources are open to everyone in the community, regardless of their involvement with any of Alleo Health’s services.

“You don’t have to have used our hospice care, palliative care, or any services to take part,” Quinn noted.

The sessions and groups are also all free of charge to participants.