Description

Bereavement and loss are common experiences for older adults and can have a pervasive impact on health and well-being. Therefore, supporting older adults to grieve, to reflect and adapt to challenges facing them in later life is important. This workshop will consider losses across both the lifespan and accumulative losses specific to later life. The workshop will be experiential in nature using multi-media, group work techniques and mindfulness. It will draw on the current literature and theory in loss and grief in later life. How grief is experienced across various cultures will be also explored.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the workshop participants will be able to:

• feel more comfortable and confident in engaging in conversations about grief and loss with older adults

• understand the variety of issues relating to loss and grief that are specifically of concern to older adults – such as role, cognition, spousal and close family loss and anticipatory grief

• understand the factors that promote resilience in later life

• have an expanded toolkit for engaging with participants in this age group

• be aware of appropriate supports and resources

Presenter Profile

Jennifer Allen and Gay Robinson are Senior Social Workers practising in an older adult mental health service. They appreciate the power and learning potential of group work and have co-facilitated carer and bereavement support programmes over the past decade. Jennifer and Gay have previously provided training to Alone volunteers on ‘Grief and Old Age’.

Gay has over twenty-five years of social work experience in child protection, medical and mental health settings in Ireland and New Zealand. She also holds Diplomas in Counselling and Psycho-Therapy, and Family Therapy and is a mindfulness practitioner. Gay has vast experience in facilitating anxiety management and mindfulness groups.

Jennifer is a graduate of the MSc Bereavement Studies, Royal College of Surgeons and is currently undertaking doctoral research in University College Dublin, School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, in advance care planning with persons with dementia. She is also a mindfulness practitioner. Jennifer has previously co-ordinated a hospital bereavement support programme and has developed and facilitated healthy ageing groups for older adults and carers transition groups for spouses of persons living with dementia. She has also facilitated seminars on ‘Grief in later life’ for the South Dublin Bereavement Network and other voluntary organisations.”