Transcript BLUE SKIES A BEREAVEMENT PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN

Blue Skies
-Helping Children Cope With Loss –
Shelly Skinner
18 November 2010
History
• Programs developed in response to an identified need in the
community to help bereaved children:
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Understand their emotions
Share experiences with other children
Normalise the grief process
Identify personal strengths and coping strategies
Blue Skies acknowledges Rosemary Watkins, Frankie Durack and Georgina
Timms who designed and commenced similar programs in the 1990’s.
Blue Skies is…
Creative Therapy
• Blue Skies, a bereavement program for eight to 12 year olds,
was piloted for 12 months to bridge this gap.
• Blue Skies program aims to normalise the process of grief for
children and identify strengths, coping and communication
strategies
• Blue Skies provides a fun filled, supportive environment which
allows children to connect with other children experiencing a
similar life change
• Blue Skies is flexible but structured
• Activities include:
– Play/games
- Exploring feelings
– Art
- Music
– Psycho educational sessions
– Meaning making activities
1) Aims
Blue Skies:
• Encourages bereaved children to give and receive support in a shared, creative
environment to reduce isolation, uncertainty and confusion.
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Helps children to recognize, name and become familiar with vast spectrum of
emotions associated with the death of a loved one.
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Encourages sharing and expression of these emotions in a healthy constructive
way.
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Normalises the grief process for children and to increase their awareness of loss
as inevitable and natural part of living.
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Identifies strengths and coping strategies and learn how to incorporate these
into their grief journey.
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Provides a fun-filled, supportive environment. This gives children the
opportunity of connecting with other children experiencing a similar life
experience.
2) Objectives
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Help children recognise, name and become
familiar with emotions associated with the
death of a loved one
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Provide a fun-filled, supportive environment
for children who experienced the death of a
parent/guardian
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Normalise the grief process and assist children to understand the death of a
loved one in their life
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Encourage constructive, healthy sharing and expression of emotion
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Identify strengths and coping strategies for healthy grieving
Pilot Workshop Support Funding
Putting together a Blue Skies
program
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Educate the community and advertise the program to professionals and the
greater community
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The Blue Skies team determine a suitable date and work together with
marketing to design a flyer.
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Mail outs – All GP surgeries in the metro area as well as all schools in WA
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Design the structured program – resources, shopping
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Recruit and train volunteers
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Run program
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Volunteer debrief and volunteer feedback sessions
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Team feedback sessions
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Make alterations as required for next program
Activities
• Balance between psychosocial, emotional and energy release
activities
• Important to keep up to date with contemporary research and
activities
• Activities include:
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Puppeteer (Jenny Tyrell and The Crunchkin Crew)
Photo reminiscence
- Very special person table
Body outline
- Sand activities
Thank you cards
- Balloon release
Feeling Jars
- Question Box
• Challenge to find activities that meet the needs of the whole
group
Blue Skies Activities
Who to refer
• Important to know who to refer to the program
• Literature tells us:
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Formal support within the first 3-6 months is optimal but support at any time is
better than no support.
Different types of support work well for different children – group work, individual
counselling, play therapy.
Developing coping strategies and language around adjusting to change and loss is
imperative for child development and will assist with coping and resilience into
adulthood.
• Considerations: aggression, sexual abuse, violence, mental health,
child’s reaction to the death and other lifestyle factors.
• We’re always happy to discuss potential referrals.
Our Screening Tool
Based on National Centre for Childhood Grief (A Friend’s Place) NSW model
Snapshot of the child’s life including:
• Who died? How? When? Was the child present?
• How does the child express themselves (i.e. open/subdued)?
• Does the child work effectively in groups?
• Experiences of loss?
• How did they learn about the death? Reactions?
• Did they get to spend time with deceased?
• How did they experience the funeral?
Screening Tool
• What relationship did they have?
• Relevant/significant factors in the child’s/family history?
• Parent/guardian concerns about the child?
• How has life been since?
• Any help/support received?
• Greatest difficulty at the moment? Help needed now?
How to refer
You can contact Shelly Skinner 0416 344 024
or Nerida Lovell 9242 0289 for:
• Referrals
• Request flyers for the
next program
• Questions about resources
or supports available
Blue Skies
Limitations
• Blue Skies is age specific - between 8 and 12yrs
• Currently, there are no non-oncology bereavement programs
running in WA, besides Blue Skies
• Blue Skies received funding from Ramsay Health Care initially
now McCusker Foundation, exploring options for ongoing longer
term funding
• Ideally, Blue Skies would run more often in different venues
throughout Perth, for more children – conversations with
organisations to form partnerships for particular populations
• Liaison with other organisations – CanTeen highly recommend
overnight programs to be most effective
• 2 days is a short time to go through the whole journey
• 3 month program
Strengths
• Blue Skies is currently the only program of its type in WA
• Blue Skies offers educational, therapeutic and recreational
activities
• Staff expertise – group facilitation provided by qualified,
experienced Social Workers from a range of backgrounds.
• Program support from largest community health service provider
in W.A. - Silver Chain
• No cost for attendees
• Strong volunteer model
• Interactive
• Flexible program
• Positive family feedback, child feedback
and from schools
• Not expensive to run
Testimonials
From parents:
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“My daughter was hesitant in coming initially, but what a
huge difference it has made! Thank you.”
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“She now speaks about her mum’s passing and knows that
she won’t upset me anymore.”
From children:
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“I used to cry into my pillow at night – now I know it’s ok to
let my feelings out.”
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“I thought that I had made him die, now I know it wasn’t my
fault.”
Blue Skies and Volunteering
Volunteer coordinator – Brad McKay 9242 0289 or
[email protected]
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Professional – police clearance
Volunteer training sessions
Volunteer debriefing
Access to SCHCS EAP
Volunteer feedback sessions
Always looking for more male volunteers
More detailed training to be provided to volunteers
Volunteers
Volunteers are essential
to the success of Blue Skies.
Blue Skies and volunteering
Volunteer experiences and feedback:
• “One girl showed me a picture of her with her mother. Her
mother’s arms enveloped her and she told me that this made
her feel her Mum was always around her.”
• “It was difficult to hear all these sad stories, but what a privilege
to be part of working with these kids!”
Do you want to be part of Blue Skies?
Please speak to Brad McKay,
Silver Chain Team Leader Volunteer Services
We are currently recruiting for volunteers to participate in this
program
Where to from here?
Next 12 months:
• Blue Skies is likely to remain in the same format due to a new
social worker at SCHCS and current levels of resources.
• Always looking for new volunteers.
• Always on the look out for funding opportunities.
Long term:
• Options for on-going funding
• Looking to develop into a 3 month program
• The role of facilitator to become a paid role
• Make into a package to be used in rural, remote and interstate
settings by other organisations
Questions?
Do you have any
questions?
Thank you
For more information visit
www.silverchain.org.au/blueskies