On behalf of Circle of Life, I want to express our diligent efforts to assure the safety of our patients and employees during the current emphasis on the coronavirus (COVID-19). We take tremendous satisfaction in safeguarding our team as well as those we care for daily by utilizing universal standard precautions. It is our highest priority to educate and inform our patients, families, caregivers, community and employees on the immediate risk of the coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. We adhere to the reports from the Center of Disease Control (CDC) and follow their prevention measures as well as the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS), National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) guidelines and policies as a baseline for our infection control practices. These recommendations establish the protocol to support our standards of operation in maintaining our quality hospice care.
COVID-19 Information Access
Governor Hutchinson’s YouTube Channel
Arkansas Department of Health
List of Resources for NWA
Basic Resource needs
Arkansas Hunger Alliance
Text “Hunger” to 88000 for locations available for food distribution
Food Pantries
Grief and Loss Support
COVID 19 Grief & Education – How does COVID-19 interrupt existing mourning and create new grief? Find out more about coping and anticipatory grief here.
Anchoring Heart Technique – to help reduce anxiety and fear
NPR Grief Stories Podcast List
Recommended Books on Grief/Loss available on: www.amazon.com
Grief Day by Day-Simple Practices and Daily Guidance on Living with Loss – Jan Warner
Option B-Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy -Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
A Grief Observed -CS Lewis
For many, the coronavirus has caused a huge spike in their anxiety levels. If you’ve already lost someone, it’s easy to fall into an anxiety spiral about losing more people. You can’t just talk yourself out of your fears. To help you navigate your anxiety (and understand how it intersects with your grief), please feel free to check out the book, It’s OK That You’re Not OK. A chapter is a free PDF. You can download it here. If you’re struggling with anxiety, look through the chapter for ways to soothe your mind.
Entertainment-
Free nightly Metropolitan Opera stream at 5:30 PM (CST)
https://www.metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/
Free Virtual Museum Tours
British Museum
Korea National Museum of Modern/Contemporary Art
Museum of Art- Sao Paulo Brazil
Children’s Resources – Resilience for Challenging Times
As parents and caregivers, we are navigating uncharted territory and an ever-changing landscape. Here are a handful of free resources from our children’s books that we’ve personally found to be comforting and helpful at this time. May these be of benefit to you and your families as well.
Let Go of “If Only” Book Reading Video
Eight-year-old Alyssa reads Julie Berry’s Happy Right Now to teach us that the best way to be happy is to embrace the circumstances we find ourselves in every day.
Celebrate the Sun Story Time Kit
Five heartwarming activities from author Sarah Jane Hinder that complement Hello, Sun! A Yoga Sun Salutation to Start Your Day—including sunshine stones, a journal, and coloring pages.
Inspire Connection Creative Craft Activity
Join the paper doll movement from Emily’s Idea by Christine Evans to spread a message of love, connection, and acceptance. Includes a template to make your own paper doll chain.
Get to Know Your Breath Author Instructional Video
When you’re mad or worried or can’t wake up in the morning, what can you do? Author Mariam Gates leads kids through six exercises from Breathe with Me: Using Breath to Feel Strong, Calm, and Happy.
Be a Shoulder to Lean On Story Time Kit
For any child who has lost someone they love, My Big, Dumb, Invisible Dragon is a tale of healing and hope. Author Angie Lucas offers six compassionate activities to support children facing grief.
Activity Book for Kids: National Alliance for Grieving Children (NAGC) has many resources/webinars in English and Spanish
Activity book for Kids: Spanish
Teen/Adult Resources
COVID 19 Teen/Child Grief from the Dougy Center
COVID-19 from Center for Complicated Grief
Journal for Grieving Adults
Self Care Ideas from What’s your Grief:
Podcasts about Grief/Loss and Bereavement
1. Grief out Loud:
Remember the last time you tried to talk about grief and suddenly everyone left the room? Grief Out Loud is opening up this often avoided conversation because grief is hard enough without having to go through it alone. We bring you a mix of personal stories, tips for supporting children, teens, and yourself, and interviews with bereavement professionals. Platitude and cliché-free, we promise! Grief Out Loud is hosted by Jana DeCristofaro and produced by The Dougy Center for Grieving Children & Families in Portland, Oregon
2. What’s Your Grief:
In this podcast series Eleanor Haley and Lisa Williams, the two mental health professionals behind the grief website” What’s Your Grief” seek to leave no stone unturned in demystifying the complicated and sometimes crazy experience of living life after loss. One digestible topic at a time, Haley and Williams distill topics ranging from grief theory to coping. Grievers and grief professionals alike will find their approach practical, relatable, informative and engaging. Grief is sad and confusing, but your grief support doesn’t have to be.
3. The Art of Dying Well
Welcome to the home of our Art of Dying Well podcasts. These monthly programmes aim to make death and dying something we can talk about openly without discomfort or fear. Each month we interview a guest on a key topic, engage in a little ‘death chatter’ before getting the ‘View from the Chaplain’s chair’.
4. Grief Encounters
Grief Encounters is a weekly podcast series that looks at an issue that affects us all and yet remains so difficult to talk about: grief. Hosts Venetia Quick and Sasha Hamrogue hope to open up the conversation around loss and create a modern platform for people to share their own experiences, and start an open dialogue around the subject of death and all that comes with it.
Special Announcement
March 13, 2020
To our Patients, Families, Personal Caregivers, Friends, Community Members and Employees,
On behalf of Circle of Life, I want to express our diligent efforts to assure the safety of our patients and employees during the current emphasis on the coronavirus (COVID-19). We take tremendous satisfaction in safeguarding our team as well as those we care for daily by utilizing universal standard precautions. It is our highest priority to educate and inform our patients, families, caregivers, community and employees on the immediate risk of the coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. We adhere to the reports from the Center of Disease Control (CDC) and follow their prevention measures as well as the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS), National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) guidelines and policies as a baseline for our infection control practices. These recommendations establish the protocol to support our standards of operation in maintaining our quality hospice care.
Circle of Life will preserve attentive surveillance with infection control as with any illness to minimize risk. We have implemented additional assessment plans to evaluate those we serve as well as those we employ. We have educated our staff and increased proper techniques to improve hand hygiene and the use of standard healthcare precautions as suggested by the CDC.
Our leadership team feels confident in the care we are providing and we want our patients as well as families to feel comfortable with all services. We understand as reported by the (CDC) that infection for most people remains low, however, we have expanded our safety practices. If any exposure is reported, our program has a full policy to address contamination, cleaning, environmental assessment, quarantine as well as full execution of documentation of symptoms associated with COVID-19.
Circle of Life has been meeting the needs of patients since 1992 and we are honored to be selected as your hospice provider. It is our pleasure to be accessible during this time and we will continue to screen until the CDC reports otherwise.
We will continue to monitor the status of the COVID-19 and communicate updates as necessary.
Sincerely,
Catherine Grubbs
CEO, Circle of Life
