Celebrating The Family Support Team at Ryan House
Navigating the unimaginable loss of a child is a journey no family should face alone. At Ryan House, the Family Support Team goes above and beyond to provide compassionate, individualized care for grieving families. Through meaningful partnerships, creative memory-making activities, and ongoing bereavement programs, Ryan House creates a supportive environment where families can find hope, healing, and connection.
Ryan House was among the first US organizations to enhance their bereavement care services by incorporating the Flexmort CuddleBlanket. This innovative support allows families to spend precious time with their child and continue to care for them before saying their final goodbyes. We spoke with Tracy Leonard-Warner, MHI, MT-BC, Executive Director of Ryan House, about the incredible work of her team and the exceptional bereavement care they provide to families in their community.
- Could you share how your team ensures that bereavement services are integrated into the care process, both before and after the loss of a child?
Ryan House’s Child Life Specialist provides pre-bereavement support to a child’s siblings and conducts memory making activities with the entire family. Ryan House is fortunate to partner with the New Song Center for Grieving Children and Hospice of the Valley. Hospice of the Valley provides a pediatric bereavement counselor for each family who helps to provide support before and after a child’s death. New Song provides a program called Enduring Ties which is open to families whose child has died. Enduring Ties takes place every other week during the school year and provides support to the adults in the family and the children – splitting the kids into age groups so they can be provided age appropriate bereavement support. These services are offered ongoing to families.
- What are some of the most meaningful bereavement support services that your hospice offers to families, and how do you tailor these services to meet individual needs?
Ryan House ‘s Child Life Specialist works with each family to meet their individual needs and create lasting memories that are meaningful to them. Each family is given the opportunity to design a tile for our memorial garden. The tiles are then hand crafted by the grandmother of two of our respite kids who is an artist. The tiles are affixed to the garden wall each spring and families are invited back to the house for a memorial service to see their child’s tile for the first time. Families feel connected to their child who has passed here at Ryan House and the tile helps to keep that memory alive. Ryan House also puts on the Run for Ryan House each year where families can come out and celebrate their child. Many families put together teams in their child’s memory.
- How do you balance the need for emotional support with the practical aspects of post-death care? What steps do you take to ensure families are given enough time, space, and privacy during such a sensitive time?
Staff always check in with families before, during and after a child’s death to see what their needs are and the timing they are comfortable with. Families always have contact information for the house and staff so if their needs or timing change, they can always reach out sooner. Families are offered the choice to choose if cooling is something that they wish to use after loss.
When a child dies, it is never easy. Ryan House, along with our care partner, Hospice of the Valley, is here for families in Arizona when they face this unimaginable Journey.
One of the amazing tools we have for families is a CuddleCot. The CuddleCot is the size of a bassinet and allows families more time to spend with their baby in Ryan House’s home-like setting before the mortuary needs to be called. So many of our families have extended family who live out-of-state, or even out of the county. The Cuddle Cot gives family members time to travel to Ryan House to say their goodbyes. It also allows time for memory-making – to make an impression of a thumbprint or ink a footprint. Precious memories that will help a family through this difficult time.
Having a CuddleBlanket allows our families with children and teens the same experiences of those with an infant. More time with their child before the mortuary needs to be called. More time in an environment of support and comfort.
- Can you share how your team helps families feel empowered to make decisions about their child’s care and their own grief journey?
Families are presented with the different options surrounding a child’s death and their own grief journey by various staff – nurses, social workers, child life specialist, chaplains, bereavement counselor all along their journey. They are encouraged to make decisions that feel right for them and are always let know that it is ok to change their mind if something doesn’t feel right or they need something else. In addition, New Song puts on a quarterly fun event for families to get together and a yearly memorial event.
The Family Support Team at Ryan House exemplifies the essence of compassionate care, ensuring that every family has the resources, space, and understanding they need. Their dedication to creating lasting memories and providing tailored, ongoing support makes an indelible difference in the lives of families. Thank you to the incredible team at Ryan House for your unwavering commitment to making grief a little more bearable.
Learn more about teh work of the team at Ryan House: ryanhouse.org
To speak to our team about how we can enhance your bereavement care with individual cooling contact info@flexmort.com
