Family Support

The experiences of illness, ageing, losses and life changes are something we all share as we go through life. Whatever the difficulty, we all cope in different ways.

When someone is diagnosed with a life threatening illnesses they can feel isolated, uncertain, afraid or anxious, and the people close to them can be affected as well.  Finding ways to manage the illness and its consequences can be time consuming as well as emotionally draining.
 

The Family Support Team at Eden Valley Hospice offers help and support with concerns and anxieties patients or their family may experience.

What is Family Support?

We are a team of different people who are here to support you and your family.   We can help you and your family to manage the challenges in front of you, and to help you feel more resilient and able to face the future with courage.   The family support team believe that each person is a unique individual with their own particular experiences, their own needs and even their own fears.   We are committed to providing individualised care and support for every person, and to helping people to meet their full potential - even in the most extreme circumstances.

We can help when it feels as though things are falling apart and life’s in turmoil.  We can help you cope with change, face decisions, make plans for the future, and support your family as they walk through it with you.

We can support you and your children when you are facing bereavement and help you all to understand what is happening.   We can help you as parents and grandparents provide for your children's emotional, psychological and spiritual needs through a range of activities including: memory boxes, boxes of hugs and kisses, writing about the future.

How to contact us: Telephone us on the hospice number 01228 810801. If we are not available, please leave a message with your name and telephone number and we will get back to you as soon as we can.   You can send us an Email by clicking here (this is sent directly to the Family Support team and not routed via the webmaster)

We are happy to help in a way that we can.  For more information about what we do please click on the links on the right.

Confidentiality:
We operate a strict patient confidentiality policy in the hospice. However, we all work closely together as a team and we may need to share information with colleagues in order to offer you the best possible care during your stay. If we feel we need to share information, we will discuss this with you before hand.

Counselling

When we are facing a painful or difficult time in our lives, when we feel tangled-up and anxious, talking with a qualified counsellor can help make sense of our confusing thoughts and feelings.

Counselling is not a soft option: it can be truly challenging. Facing doubts and fears in therapy often feels risky at first, but it can help people come to terms with their prognosis and face the future with courage, resilience and hope.
 

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Spiritual Care

We believe that everyone has a spiritual dimension that helps us to understand our place within the world. For some this is expressed through a faith or religious belief system, while for others it’s something else entirely. Some moments in our lives provide us with the chance to reflect. Illness sometimes induces thoughts about the ‘big questions’ of life and death and so spiritual care is an integral part of the care that we offer to patients, their carers and families at Eden Valley Hospice.

We offer spiritual/religious support to all our patients regardless of their faith, religion or beliefs, and seek to uphold what makes you ‘you’. The Chaplain works closely with faith groups in the community and representatives of patients' own churches and faiths are welcome here.
 

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The Chaplain
The role is usually non-religious and can include confidential listening, pastoral support and companionship, counselling, prayer, reading, assisting with funeral planning or just someone non-clinical to chat with. You do not need to have a connection or be a member of any church, faith community or be religious. Our Chaplain routinely sees patients in the hospice and is available to family, carers and friends as well.

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The Chapel
The chapel is open for anyone to use as a place for peace and quiet, to pray or just to sit in. There is a daily service/reflection for patients, visitors, staff and volunteers. There are a variety of poetry and religious books to read and music sometimes plays in the background. We also have a perpetual candle and others for you to light if you wish, along with a book for your thoughts, prayers and reflections and a memory tree.

Pictured is the Hospice Chapel

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Social Work
What’s Social Work at the hospice about?
Social work is about getting to know you, seeing life through your eyes and helping you to find a way through the obstacles you face. Not everyone will need a Social Worker, but we can help with supporting you to adjust to the changes that may be happening, and we can also help to support your family/carer as they go through things with you.
 

Social Workers can be useful people to talk to about a wide variety of things. For example we can help with thinking about what you will need to go home safely, or help and support to move into a residential or nursing home, help with financial matters or housing, worries about your family, or thinking about the future. Social Workers don’t have all the answers but can usually find someone that can help when we can’t.

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What about Social Services
Because the Social Worker is part of Adult Social and Cultural Services, we can work with you and your carer to assess your social needs, and help you to access statutory services. We can look together at what it is that you want to change or achieve, what extra support you need, and how together we can manage your support. We can also help you to co-ordinate your care, liaise with the various professionals and carers involved, and advocate with other agencies/organisations on your behalf when necessary.

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Bereavement Support Services
Bereavement Support is the opportunity to talk in complete confidence about your loss and the often confusing and contradictory feelings you may experience.

We don’t tell you how to behave or what you should or should not be doing or what to think. We allow you the space and the time to come to terms with your loss and to face the future with courage.


Not everyone needs bereavement support since grieving affects each person differently. There is no “right” way to grieve.

However, it can be difficult to share our feelings with the people we care for at a time when they too may be experiencing the pain of loss. Talking with someone outside your family and friends can help in coming to terms with the changes and adjustments that have to be made at this difficult time.

How to contact us: Telephone us on the hospice number 01228 810801. If we are not available, please leave a message with your name and telephone number and we will get back to you as soon as we can.


We are happy to help in a way that we can.

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