New guide provides framework for organisations to support employees following suicide

   ‘Breaking the Silence in the Workplace’ A Guide for Employers on Responding to Suicide in the Workplace‘ a new publication by the Irish Hospice Foundation and Console aims to provide practical guidelines for organisations dealing with the impact of suicide. The guide was launched today with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC).  It outlines appropriate responses in four scenarios;  when an employee dies through suicide on-site,  when an employee’s suicide occurs off-site, when an employee is affected by the suicide of someone close and when a former employee dies by suicide.

Speaking at the launch David Begg of ICTU highlighted the need for workplaces to have practices in place to respond to the impact of suicide. Report authors Breffni Mc Guinness and Ciaran Austin  drew attention to the complexity and personal tragedy behind suicide bereavement  and the hope that ‘Breaking the silence’ be a support tool to enable organisations to appropriately respond to the needs of suicide bereaved employees.

The publication can be obtained from the Irish Hospice Foundation and Console or is available to download HERE

Dealing with grief in the workplace – Lunch & Learn Series

The Irish Hospice Foundation’s annual series of lunchtime seminars on handling grief in the workplace will run from February 7th until April 3rd.

The ‘lunch & learn’ series is aimed at managers, HR personnel or anyone supporting recently bereaved colleagues.

This year two new seminars; Communication Skills for Managers around Loss
and Grief and Thriving and staying healthy when working with grief and loss (self & organisational care for staff) have been included to address the wide-ranging impact of grief in the workplace. The series brochure, along with booking details is available HERE

In addition to the practical training on the day, participants will be given access to the Irish Hospice Foundation’s e-learning course to provide additional support material and an online training accompaniment to the seminar.

In further development of its guidance material on grief in the workplace, the Irish Hospice Foundation, along with Console will launch a Guide for employers on responding to suicide in the workplace’ on January 31st. The report will act as a practical resource to develop understanding and coping skills for organisations faced with the effects of suicide. Copies of the report and further information will be available on the Irish Hospice Foundation website after the official launch on the 31st.

New study links bereavement and heart attack risk

It is well accepted that the mental health impact of bereavement can be significant and far-reaching.

Evidence of the physical effect of recent bereavement is also being increasingly built up. Research published last year by Buckley et al in the journal Heart, Lung & Circulation took the evidence further, highlighting changes in blood pressure post bereavement which could increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.

New research published last week by Mostofsky et al in the journal Circulation presents findings of a study surveying 1,985 people following hospital admission for heart attack. Of the cohort 270 had experienced the loss of a significant person within six months of their heart attack with 19 experiencing a cardiac incident within 24 hours of the loss of their loved one.

While the findings do not suggest that grief presents an acute or common risk for cardiac incident it does highlight an increased need for vigilance in the initial weeks and months following a bereavement and the need for sustained physical and emotional support for the grieving.

Library access Friday Jan 13th

Therese Brady Library Collection

Happy New Year and welcome back to all our library users.

The Library space will be in use from 9 am until 4.30 pm on Friday January 13th so will not be accessible to visitors.

Library users needing to return books may still do so but study facilities and access to the collection will not be available during this time. Remember that you can reserve or renew library items through the online catalogue using your library reader and PIN number. If you need to borrow items or have any queries please email laura.rooneyferris@hospice-foundation.ie