Providing support to families coping with loss

Lauren Rose, MSN, RNC, lost her son, Eli Matthew, at 38 weeks and two days gestation in the fall of 2015.

She faced a difficult reality a short time after: returning to work in the Memorial Hospital Childbirth Unit.

But Lauren found a way to honor her son in a project named after him. The Eli 

Project helps others who are coping with the loss of a loved one.

“The Eli Project was started to standardize adult bereavement services through the hospital,” Lauren said. “It is our intention that every family member feel supported in their grief.”

Family members are now given grief resources and information for optional followup care in a bereavement folder after a loss at Memorial. “We spent many meetings choosing the items we wanted in the folders, including grief information, information regarding the Center for Hospice, journal pages and ways to cope with grief,” Lauren said.

And with the help of the Adult Bereavement Committee, and Sarah Samson, Memorial chaplain, families now have the opportunity to gather and honor their loved ones who died during the last calendar year, much like the long-time May Service of Remembrance for children.

The first Adult Service of Remembrance was held Sunday in the Memorial Hospital auditorium. 

More than 230 people attended, in addition to hospital associates and staff.

“We had an overwhelmingly positive turnout and heard nothing but good feedback from families,” Lauren said. “We did a living bouquet, where we read the names of all of the loved ones who passed. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.”

Thank you, Lauren, for helping families reconnect with the staff who cared for their loved ones. Thanks, too, to Sarah Samson, chaplain, Pete Gaffney, RN, and all those associates who helped make Sunday special.