Re-Imagining Holistic Grief and Bereavement Care Within Healthcare Settings
Joelle Osterhaus, MSW, LCSW, LICSW, ACHP-SW, Kaiser Permanente Northwest

While positivity and mortality rates have decreased, the impact of the COVID 19 Pandemic continues to have far reaching impacts on our communities, within our work settings, and in personal lives. Through this interactive workshop, attendees will deepen their understanding of the bereavement experience in the era of COVID-19, including the unique challenges service providers faced and still face.  In addition,  attendees will explore the interplay between normal grief and the complex context of the pandemic and how it may or may not result in greater mental illness and mental health needs. Finally, workshop attendees will identify gaps and opportunities for adapting traditional approaches to bereavement care, and ways to carry those into a re-imagining of grief support and services into the future – including special considerations for better meeting the needs of vulnerable populations who have been disproportionately impacted and have been frequently under-served by bereavement care professionals and related organizations in most communities.