Patient and family support
"Our Patient and Family Support Team provides a range of tailored support for Oakhaven patients and their families, including counselling, spiritual guidance, family support, bereavement support, guidance and signposting."
Support for patients and their families at Oakhaven
Coming to terms with the reality of a life limiting diagnosis can be devastating; you may feel lots of different emotions, from anger, sadness, disbelief or even guilt. These feelings are completely natural but they can affect you in different ways, you may find it hard to concentrate, remember things, motivate yourself, or impact on your thoughts and beliefs, leading you to feel isolated.
It can be good to talk through these feelings either individually or in a group setting with someone who is independent, Oakhaven's counsellors are trained to listen to and support you, during your illness and help you come to terms with your diagnosis.
Telephone bereavement support
The Patient and Family Support Team at Oakhaven recognises that, after the death of a loved one, it can be difficult to speak honestly with family and friends.
Our compassionate and dedicated trained Bereavement Support Volunteers are here to call you weekly for six weeks to check in and be alongside you in the early days of your loss. They'll provide a safe space where you can talk openly about your grief.
If you are recently bereaved and your loved one was an Oakhaven patient get in touch with the Patient and Family Support Team:
- Email: counselling@oakhavenhospice.co.uk
- Telephone: 01590 670346 and ask to speak to Patient and Family Support
- Speak to a volunteer in the Hub of the Coates Centre.
Bereavement tea
Understanding the significance of loss, we invite widows and widowers of Oakhaven patients to a monthly tea. Hosted by trained Bereavement Support Volunteers, afternoon tea supports in the early stages of grief through a shared coming together. Further details and invitations are sent out by the Patient and Family Support Team.
Living with Loss course
Our six-week Living with Loss group course gently explores our responses to the loss of a loved one and provides a supportive peer group environment. Further details and invitations will be provided by the Patient and Family Support Team.
How can I get counselling help?
Anyone who is or has been cared for by Oakhaven Hospice can access this service, this also includes the family of the patient. Up to six one-to-one sessions can be offered weekly by our Patient and Family Support team.
Please speak to our Patient and Family Support team on the contact fill out the enquiry form below to request support:
Alternatively you can download a printed form and bring it to Oakhaven, email it to counselling@oakhavenhospice.co.uk or post it to us at: Patient and Family Support, Oakhaven Hospice, Lower Pennington Lane, Lymington. SO41 8ZZ.
Spiritual care at Oakhaven
To be human is to be spiritual, for spirituality is that part of us that gives meaning, purpose and hope to our lives.
Our Spiritual Care Team is here to accompany patients, their families and carers as they reflect on their own unique personhood: at a time when fears and uncertainties, hurts and disappointments may raise difficult questions. Our Spiritual Care Team is also here to share in the joys and unexpected surprises with which the sacred in the everyday touches our lives.
How or where you seek to express your deepest personhood, whether it be through a particular faith tradition or none, if you would like to talk to someone from the Spiritual Care Team, please do contact us or ask any member of the Oakhaven team to direct you to us.
Our Spiritual Care Team is led by our Chaplain, Lois Collings. You can contact Lois via email at lois.collings@oakhavenhospice.co.uk or by telephone at 01590 670339.
Bereavement support at Oakhaven
Losing someone you love can be one of the most devastating experiences you ever face and the range of emotions you may feel can be confusing. It can alter the way you think, the way you behave and disturb your sleep patterns. This is normal.
What is grief?
Grief is the intense sorrow someone can feel at the loss of a loved one. Everyone will suffer from grief at some stage in their lives and although there are common physical and emotional symptoms, the important thing to remember is that the way each individual deals with it and the length of time it takes to come to terms with that loss will be different.
As you express your grief through a period of mourning, you find ways to adapt to the loss so that you can learn to live with it. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you get over what has happened, but you learn to adjust your life to accommodate it.
The Patient and Family Support team offers a range of bereavement support, including counselling, coping with grief courses and bereavement cafés. There are also bereavement groups and activities available to our community with Oakhaven Wellbeing at the Coates Centre.
Other sources of help
Depending on your needs and location there are a range of organisations that can help you with face-to-face support or provide advice over the phone. Click here for a printable download.
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