MIAMI, March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- VITAS Innovative Hospice Care(R), the nation’s largest provider of end-of-life care and a pioneering leader in the hospice movement, now offers an abundance of important grief support and bereavement information on its Web site. By clicking on the Grief & Bereavement icon at http://www.vitas.com/, patients and families will find more than 100 resources that can assist them through the grief process or help them support a friend or loved one who is grieving.
“The bereaved typically wonder what to expect from grief, what is normal, how to help children and teens coping with loss, and when to seek professional help,” said Robin Fiorelli, national director of bereavement and volunteer services at VITAS Healthcare Corporation. “We’ve devoted this section of our Web site to answering those questions, and to sharing the heartfelt and inspiring works of others who’ve successfully dealt with grief. Sometimes just reading what others have been through helps to validate feelings and start the healing process.”
The VITAS Web site contains a section on tips for adults coping with loss, tips for adults assisting grieving children and teens, and a section of encouraging and supportive poems and prose about grief and loss. In addition, there is a section for healthcare providers that contains professional articles on providing effective bereavement care. There also is a detailed resource list of books and bereavement journals, as well as links to other grief Web sites and a link to a listing of current support groups and memorial services in each of the communities that VITAS serves.
VITAS bereavement services are always free to the public. They consist of:
* Regular bereavement support letters, newsletters and other educational materials * Bereavement support groups led by professional VITAS staff * Memorial services provided in various locations and communities * Bereavement support telephone calls and visits by professional staff and volunteers * Community resource referral services, helping families to find grief therapists, community support groups, legal services and other services About VITAS
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care(R), a pioneer and leader in the hospice movement since 1978, is the nation’s largest provider of end-of-life care. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs) operates 34 hospice programs in 12 states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin). VITAS employs 7,159 professionals who care for terminally ill patients daily, primarily in the patients’ homes, but also in the company’s 24 inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities/residential care facilities for the elderly. At the conclusion of the fourth quarter of 2004, VITAS reported an average daily census of 9,134.
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care
CONTACT: Mark Cohen, VP-Communications & Public Relations of VITASHealthcare Corporation, +1-305-350-5905; or Deborah Adams, Account Supervisorof Hill & Knowlton, +1-202-944-1903, for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care
Web site: http://www.vitas.com/