I have been invited to lead a workshop in a Hospice. The group may include residents, their caretakers, relatives, and volunteers. I would appreciate any and all advice for prompts that have worked and issues that might arise. Thanks, Susie
I have been invited to lead a workshop in a Hospice. The group may include residents, their caretakers, relatives, and volunteers. I would appreciate any and all advice for prompts that have worked and issues that might arise. Thanks, Susie
I have led workshops in a local Oncology Support Program (we met weekly for 6+ years); for a retreat at Omega Institute for women with metastatic breast cancer (2 years in a row); and occasionally at monthly Death Cafe meetings held locally (Death Cafe is an international social franchise at https://deathcafe.com/). The demographics of the group you describe could be found at any of these workshops, all having dying and death as their background reason for being. However, I did not limit the prompts to subjects having to do with cancer or dying/death. I offered prompts that might have participants diving into their childhood memories or where they were from or any other subject under the sun. A poem. A photo of themselves or a work of art on a postcard. I treated them like any other group of participants, allowing them to write whatever they wanted and needed to express. And sometimes their illness or their thoughts on mortality came up in the writing. But just as often, they wrote about their lives. We often talked about creating a legacy will, which is a memoir-like document in which they could leave behind stories about their lives, who they were, what they wished for the futures of their loved ones. Some of these groups had members who were long-term survivors. In other groups, we witnessed their suffering and demise. We wrote at every workshop and responded to the stories we heard, and mourned the departed when that happened. The one issue that arose for me as facilitator was that many of the members in the Oncology Support Program bonded with each other so thoroughly that I was sometimes challenged in keeping us all with the story. Still am at times in my current workshops. Maybe that’s on me. I had a hard time telling someone at the end of their life to focus on the narrator’s story, especially when emotions ran high and they were connecting so personally. This is rich work, Susie. Lots of joy and laughter, too.
Thank you, Ann, for taking the time to share your experience and wisdom with me. Yes, I believe it is rich work, indeed. The hospice is trying out various activities to offer and so there is no guarantee that this will go on for more than one gathering, but I want it to be nourishing for everyone on that day. I so appreciate your response.