Hospice Society of Camrose

Dr. Alan Wolfelt states, “if you are old enough to love you are old enough to grieve.”

Research suggests that children experience grief at a very young age. Child grief is experienced and expressed differently than adult grief, and consequently needs a different kind of support. If you know a child/teen who is grieving you may be a lifeline for them. Find tools and support in the resources below.

Web Resources:

General Grief Support:
Canadian Virtual Hospice
http://www.mygrief.ca/

What’s Your Grief
https://whatsyourgrief.com/

Center For Loss & Life Transition
https://www.centerforloss.com/grief/

Heal Grief
https://healgrief.org/helping-children-cope-deal-with-grief/

Wise Old Sayings
http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/grieving-support-guide/

PsychCentral - The Ball and the Box
https://psychcentral.com/blog/coping-with-grief-the-ball-the-box#1

Child/Teen Grief Resources:
Suicide Loss: Stand By Support After Suicide
http://standbysupport.com.au/

Completing the Circle: End of Life Care with, by and for Aboriginal Families
http://www.aboriginalendoflifecare.com/children.html

Talking with Kids & teens about dying and Death
http://kidsgrief.ca/

Children’s Grief Education Association
http://childgrief.org/childgrief.htm

Children and Youth Grief Network
http://www.childrenandyouthgriefnetwork.com/

Rainbows: Guiding our Youth Through the Storms of Life
https://rainbows.org/resources

Kids Aid
http://www.kidsaid.com/

The Dougy Center: The National Center for Grieving Children and Families
https://www.dougy.org/?gclid=CjwKEAjw--DLBRCN_bW36taJkhwSJABSMEduGQgeHXOBD07sUGJzbbY6PT5nyD_bDI9gph0UTcnbKxoC_9Lw_wcB

Moments of Life: Grief Through a Child’s Eyes
https://moments.nhpco.org/stories/grief-through-child%E2%80%99s-eyes#sidr-0

Coalition to Support Grieving Students
https://grievingstudents.org/

Teens and Death
http://www.teensanddeath.com/index.html

Dr. Jay Children's Grief Centre
https://drjaychildrensgriefcentre.ca/programs/resources/

Teen Grief
https://www.teengrief.com/

KidsGrief.ca

Talking with kids & teens about dying and death.

What do I tell the kids? How do I support them?

KidsGrief.ca is a free online resource that helps parents support their children when someone in their life is dying or has died. It equips parents with the words and confidence needed to help children grieve life’s losses in healthy ways.

Books

Check out books available in the Hospice library - Click HERE

Videos

How Teens Deal With Grief

Sometimes teens are overlooked when tragedy strikes. How do teens cope? How can we help them have a voice? How can we get them to speak when they feel they can't even speak to their friends? How can we help them? What do we say? You can find support in your local church, community hospice programs, and several online groups. For more information please see our page on child loss http://pfwbs.org/gocordless/surviving-child-loss/ for resources and information about grief. fb @survivingchildloss15 A big thank you to RedCastleMedia for filming this interview.

Mr Rogers Talks About Death

Mr Rogers talks about death a wonderful message for today and everyday in our hurting world, Mr Rogers talks about death a wonderful message for today and everyday in our hurting world

What A Five-year-old Taught Me About Grieving

Kate Braestrup shares the story of her husband Andy's death, and a visit from 5-year-old Nina at the viewing.

Sesame Street: When Families Grieve
Message for Families: Big Feelings

Elmo and Jessie sometimes have big feelings when they remember Uncle Jack, but Elmo's dad Louie reminds them that it helps to talk about their feelings. When Families Grieve launches April 14th at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) with a television special featuring Katie Couric, Elmo, and the courageous stories of families coping with the death of a parent. Visit sesamestreet.org/grief to find out more.

The Memory String

Each button on Laura’s memory string represents a piece of her family history. The buttons Laura cherishes the most belonged to her mother — a button from her prom dress, a white one off her wedding dress, and a single small button from the nightgown she was wearing on the day she died. When the string breaks, Laura’s new stepmother, Jane, is there to comfort Laura and search for a missing button, just as Laura’s mother would have done. But it’s not the same — Jane isn’t Mom. In Eve Bunting’s moving story, beautifully illustrated by Ted Rand, Laura discovers that a memory string is not just for remembering the past: it’s also for recording new memories.

For Families: When Families Grieve

Sesame Street in Communities brings free video content of everyone's favorite, furry Muppet friends as they help children and the adults in their lives reach their highest potential. Grover and the gang will tackle a variety of topics that face children in the areas of health and well-being, school readiness, and emotional well-being. Some of the content and topics presented are more sensitive, so you should preview these videos before sharing with a child.

Grief: A Short Lego Film

Hey There! This is my first film, I hope you enjoy! Grief- A Short Film is about a young girl named Emily who loses her best friend. Special thanks to the Virtual Hospice Foundation for inspiring to make this video! : Music by Kevin MacLeod (Creative Commons Attribute)

Kids Care

Introduction to the documentary, Kids Care, directed by Laura Sky, produced by SkyWorks Charitable Foundation. In the film "Kids Care", we meet a memorable group of young people, each dealing with the death of a parent, sibling, cousin or best friend to cancer. The participants in the film talk candidly about their their experiences. They explore their hopes, and their search to re-establish "normal" while learning to live with their loss. They also describe what friends, parents and teachers can do to help kids cope with feelings of fear, anger, isolation and sadness. For more information or to obtain a copy of this film, please visit us at www.skyworksfoundation.org, info@skyworksfoundation.org

Sad Sesame Street Mr.Hooper is gone

The writers and producers of Sesame Street decided to create an episode that taught their young audience about the difficult topic of death after the passing of Will Lee, the actor for the character Mr. Hooper. Research was conducted to ascertain the messages they wanted to convey about the topic, as well as the effect the episode would have on the young children who watched it. They were advised by experts in the fields of child psychology, child development, and religion. The episode, which set the standard for dealing with difficult topics on children's television, was called heartbreaking yet affirming, and one of the proudest moments in the show's history.

Children and grief

Ten brave children share their stories of losing a loved one. We hear about their grief and loss, how they are coping and healing. Their advice for other children who have lost a loved one is honest, sincere and heartfelt. These children have experienced a life-changing event, yet they manage to share their stories with a sense of strength and resiliency. Viewers will be left with a sense of hope and an understanding that they are not alone in experiencing death.

No Child Should Ever Grieve Alone | Carly Woythaler-Runestad | TEDxLincoln

Given at the 2015 TEDxLincoln event, Re:Think. Carly Woythaler-Runestad gives a thought-provoking talk on how, as a society, we need to “Re:Think” how children’s grief is addressed and how to create a supportive environment which emphasizes the holistic needs of bereaved families. Carly Woythaler-Runestad has been the executive director of the Mourning Hope Grief Center for over 7 years. Mourning Hope is a nonprofit, grief support network for children, teens, young adults and their families who have experienced the death of someone significant in their life. She has served on a number of diverse statewide boards and in 2014 was elected to the National Alliance for Grieving Children’s Board of Directors.