OneLegacy Family Services Aftercare Bakersfield Learning Session

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OneLegacyFamily Services AftercareBakersfield
Learning Session
Michelle Post, MA, LMFT
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Family Services Staff

• Director of Family Services, Jeff Fleming
• Family Care Coordinators (18, 1 Support)
• Aftercare Staff (3 FT, 1 PT, 1 Support)
• Tissue Only Requests - Requestors are Family
  Coordinators _at_ Stat line

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Our Philosophy

• Adopted Dr. Alan Wolfelts idea of companioning
  a bereaved family
  
• We are not the experts on grief we will take
  cues from the family to understand what we can do
  to support them
  
• We will not lead the family in any direction, but
  be with them through their journey
  

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A Familys Process

• Imagine
• A crisis a death
• A phone call from a stranger
• No face to face interaction
• And a family still says yes?
• Tissue families are committed to donation!

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Meet a Tissue Donorand Her Family

• Corrie

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Supporting Families

• Provide NEW packet of information given in
  hospitals Coming Soon!
  
• The Next Few Hours
• contains
• - Tissue donation info
• - FAQs
• - OneLegacy Contact info
• Brochures about OneLegacy in Hospitals

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Aftercare Program

• Sympathy Card
• Organ Placement/Tissue Outcome Letter
• General information about recipients who received
  transplants and what tissue was recovered with
  possible uses of tissue
  
• Letters of Support
• at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 18 months, 24
  months
  
• Include grief literature, information on writing
  to transplant recipients, our volunteer program,
  etc.
  
• Anniversary Card on One Year Anniversary of
  Loved Ones Death
  

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Aftercare Program

• Phone Calls
• Provide telephone counseling/support
• Offer compassion, caring, and education
• Listen to memories of the person who died
• Assess coping
• Develop a plan for memorializing
• Offer referrals

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Communication with Transplant Recipients

• Family Services facilitates written communication
  between donor families and transplant recipients
  
  
• Rare for tissue families, but beginning to happen
  as processors are including template letters
  
• Encourage anonymity in first communication
• What if donor family or recipient includes
  identifying information?
  
• Facilitate meetings between donor families and
  recipients

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Other Services for Donor Families

• Obtain medical updates on recipients
• Obtain updates on what tissue has been utilized
• Annual Donor Remembrance Ceremony, Fields of
  Gold
  
• (First ever Spanish-only coming in 2008)
• The Companion, a Donor Family Newsletter

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Other Services for Donor Families (contd)

• Opportunities to participate in Bridging Lives
  Quilt and Ambassador Program
  
• Donate Life Rose Parade Float Decorating, Donate
  Life Run/Walk
  
• Sponsor families to attend the Transplant Games
  or National Donor Recognition Ceremony
  
• Available to answer questions, offer support and
  referrals at any time
  

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Donor Remembrance Ceremonies
Each family receives a Life Bridges Donor Pin
Pendant set
White doves are released at the end of the cere
mony
Terry Harrington, heart recipient and the voice
of Lisas sax on the Simpsons, performs
Families personalize balloons before releasing
them
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Bridging Lives Quilt
Donor families can create a quilt block which
becomes a community based quilt
Kern County Bridging Lives Quilt with project
leader Becky Pitre
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Donor Family and Recipient Meetings
A lung recipient holds a picture of his donor
during the meeting with
his donors mother.
A donor mother listens to her sons heart beating
in the recipient
Liver recipient, Jeff Hedrick, meets his donors
parents for the first time on the one year
anniversary of his transplant.
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Donate Life Rose Parade Float
Donor Mom decorates her sons picture on the Kod
ak Float
A donor family gathers to decorate in
honor of their loved one
Donor parents add a rose to the Family Circle
Donor Sister works on the Donate Life Float
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Donate Life Run/Walk
Tshirts were personalized with each donors
picture
Participants walked through the Circle of Life
Garden and donor families found this to be a
place of reflection.
Donor families formed teams of all sizes and
walked in honor of their loved ones.
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Meet a Tissue Donor

• Andrew

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Other Services forDonor Families

• Local Hospital Donor Recognition Ceremonies
• Riverside County Regional Medical Center
• California Hospital
• Both included tissue families in their program
  even though the hospital themselves are often not
  involved in the tissue consent.
  

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Whats New?

• Educational Workshops on Grief Loss, Child/Teen
  Grief, and Donation
  
• Schools, Social Service Professionals, Hospital
  Staff, Donor familys community, Clergy (Local
  National)
  
• OneLegacy Staff Grief Loss (10/31 4/24)
• Handouts available
• Child, Teen, Adult book list
• Grieving Kids Teens Dos and Donts
• Child Speak for Death and Mourning Rituals

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Whats New?

• Consultation and support for new start-up grief
  programs
  
• Garys Circle of Friends (11/15/07) echo park
  free grief support center
  
• Widows Widowers of High Dessert - Victorville
• House of Hope in Agora
• The more referrals sources we have, the better
  our donor
  
• families are served!

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Whats New?

• Representation, Collaboration Consultation w/
  National Councils/Boards
  
• Donor Family Council
• National Alliance for Grieving Children
• Association of Professional Chaplains
• ADEC So-Cal ADEC

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The Goal?

• To do all we can to guide, support, and companion
  a grieving family who consented to donation and
  support our staff who make donation happen.