Hospice family care addresses the needs of the family during the patient’s illness. Bereavement support starts at the first contact with hospice and continues throughout the patient’s illness and for 13 months following the death of a loved one.

It is natural to feel grief after the loss of a loved one. Grief is an emotional experience, but it is also a physical, intellectual, social, and spiritual experience. This is all part of bereavement.

Our Bereavement program provides the following:

• • • Information about loss and the grief process.
    • Support to the grieving family and friends of the deceased through opportunities to talk about their loved one and the experience of caring for that person.
    • Assistance to survivors as they learn to cope with their loss, including help with specific problems and referrals to other community resources when indicated.
    • Individual and family counseling.
    • Volunteer visits.
    • Support groups.
    • Summer and winter memorial services
    • January Bereavement Newsletter

Open Grief Support Groups:

Please visit our calendar page or call the office for more information. Current support groups:

GWINN: 2nd Wednesday of the month at 2 pm

Location: Gwinn Senior Center

MARQUETTE: 3rd Wednesday of the month at 5:30 pm

Location: Lake Superior Life Care & Hospice office

NEGAUNEE:  3rd Thursday of the month at 3:00 pm

Location: Negaunee Senior Center

The facilitator for our grief groups is Lisa Marttila, Lake Superior Life Care & Hospice Bereavement Coordinator. For more information contact her at (906) 225-7760 or email lmarttila@lakesuperiorhospice.org

Common responses to the death of a loved one include:

• • • Numbness and shock.
    • A feeling of tightness in the throat or heaviness in the chest.
    • Restlessness, with a tendency to wander around the house or familiar places.
    • Crying easily, unexpectedly and intensely.
    • Loss of appetite and a hollow feeling.
    • Denial – an inability to accept the reality of the loss.
    • Low energy level and difficulty in concentrating.
    • Loss of interest in social activities or work.
    • A fear that one is experiencing a mental illness.
    • An increased number of some minor illnesses such as colds and the flu.

The bereavement staff of hospice programs are trained to handle grief issues. It is often important to hospice patients to know that their family and friends will be cared for in the emotional time just after death. Providing this support is always a part of the hospice plan of care, and makes hospice unique among health care providers.

Visit our Grief Support Page for more information.