#51 Marking anniversaries and walking alongside a person who is grieving.

08.05.23

#51 Marking anniversaries and walking alongside a person who is grieving.


I first met Jo in 2023 to record how Fast Track Continuing Health care supports Advance Care Planning. We spoke about the importance of adapting to rapidly changing needs, and the care required to support her husband Barry to die at home after he was diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma.

In this special episode, released during Dying Matters 2023, we talk about the challenges in knowing how to mark anniversaries, what walking alongside a grieving person looks like and the importance of workplace support for bereavement.

There’s a link to Jo’s first episode in the show notes or you can find it as number 45 in Conversations about Advance Care Planning.


Key messages from guest

  • Jo describes the experience of grieving during the additional isolation imposed by COVID-19

  • Jo talks about “Mourning Tea” used in Druid tradition.

  • The pressure of “coming up with ideas” to mark anniversaries of death can cause additional challenges for a person who is grieving. 

  • Jo describes “coming alongside” as friends visiting for food, to play games and to support the children at football games. 

  • The importance of remembering anniversaries is highlighted by Jo

  • Jo describes how she has asked Barry’s friends to write stories about Barry to share with their boys.

  • The importance of workplace support when going back to work after a bereavement is highlighted by Jo

Resources

Bio

Barry Armstrong

Barry was from Northern Ireland, he had worked in humanitarian aid from the 1990s and was usually drawn to conflict affected countries working in Afghanistan, Tajiskistan, Sri Lanka and on the Syrian crisis based in the middle east. He also worked in the Philippines, Mongolia and Zimbabwe. He thought hard and fought hard to improve the lives of those affected by war or natural disaster. He also had a love for being outdoors, for mountains, the sea and camping. We were an adventurous family, our boys were born in Sri Lanka, and went to school in Jordan, weekends and holidays were often spent hiking, canyoning or canoeing across remote Scottish lochs.


Jo Armstrong

I am a physiotherapist with a background in rehabilitation and spinal cord injury, I currently work at the national spinal injuries centre in Stoke Mandeville and work to promote higher standards of care internationally most recently in Ukraine.

 

What one thing will you do?

It would be great to share what resonated with you from this episode, what is the one thing you will do differently? Head to Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to continue these important conversations.

Thanks to all my guests for working with me to share their knowledge, experience and stories about Advance Care Planning. I hope you enjoyed listening and have insights to take away; I love hearing your reflections on the series and look forward to reviews on Spotify where you can also subscribe to the series.

Clare

Important Conversations about Important Conversations.