OneLegacy Family Services Aftercare

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OneLegacyFamily Services Aftercare
Continuing Family Care
Michelle Post, MA, LMFT Clinical Aftercare
Specialist
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Family Services Staff

• Director of Family Services,
• Jeff Fleming
• Aftercare Staff
• FT Aftercare Luz Diaz - Chaplain, Michelle Post
  LMFT, Flora Leos - Tissue
• PT DF Events Kari Kozuki, LCSW
• FT Support Deborah Tanner

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Questions?

• What does your hospital do to honor or address
  the grief of
• Adult family members of patients?
• The kids of patients?
• Donor families?
• What does OneLegacy do to support families who
  say yes?

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Points to remember

• Its the right thing to do
• If you cant get DEAD right
• If you think we are preaching to the choir, just
  remember you have the power to influence.
• If donation is like a relay race possibly ER/ICU
  is the first leg consent recovery Could
  aftercare be the anchor leg?

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Our Philosophy

• Who is a donor family?
• 2 Organs? 20 tissues?
• NO! A donor family is ANYONE who says YES to
  donation, regardless of outcome all have access
  to Aftercare

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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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Our Philosophy

• Adopted Dr. Alan Wolfelts idea of
• Responsible Rebels
• No conformity of GETTING OVER IT
• Instead FOSTER GROWTH
• MPs spin Watch your _at_ language!
• Not Expired Instead use death
• Not Harvest Instead use Recovered

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Meet a Tissue Donorand Her Family

• Corrie

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Aftercare Program

• Sympathy Card
• Organ Placement/Tissue Outcome Letter
• Letters of Support
• at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 18 months, 24
  months
• 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

• Communication between donor families and
  transplant recipients
• Written Communication
• Encourage anonymity in first communication
• Phone in person (5 to 10)
• Facilitate meetings between donor families and
  recipients

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Donor Family and Recipient Meetings
A donor mother listens to her sons heart beating
in the recipient
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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.
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Donor Family and Recipient Meetings
Liver recipient, Jeff Hedrick, meets his donors
parents for the first time on the one year
anniversary of his transplant.
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Other Services for Donor Families

• Obtain medical updates on organ recipients
  tissue utilization
• The Companion, a Donor Family Newsletter
• Annual Donor Remembrance Ceremony, Fields of
  Gold
• 2nd Spanish-only in 2009
• MARCH 09 _at_ Loma Linda

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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
ceremony
Terry Harrington, heart recipient and the voice
of Lisas sax on the Simpsons, performs
Families personalize balloons before releasing
them
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Other Services for Donor Families (contd)

• Sponsor families to attend the Transplant Games
  or National Donor Recognition Ceremony
• Donor Family Float decorating Run Walk at
  CSFullerton
• Available to answer questions, offer support and
  referrals at any time

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Bridging Lives Quilt
Donor families can create a quilt block which
becomes a community based quilt
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Bridging Lives Quilt
Kern County Bridging Lives Quilt with project
leader Becky Pitre
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Other Services for Donor Families

• Local Hospital Donor Recognition Ceremonies
• Huntington Memorial
• UCI
• Holy Cross
• Riverside Co. Reg. Med Ctr
• 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
• The more referrals sources we have, the better
  our donor families are served!

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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 professionals who make donation happen.
• Read Little Girl Poem

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Questions?

• Questions for me?
• Questions for you
• What does your hospital do to honor or address
  the grief of
• Adult family members of patients?
• The kids of patients?
• Donor families?