BELLOWS FALLS — Brattleboro Area Hospice offers its popular “Death and Dying for Beginners” class on four consecutive Tuesday evenings, from 6 to 8:30, Sept. 16 through Oct. 7 at Parks Place, 44 School St.
The class will help individuals explore their awareness, attitudes, and feelings about death and dying. Participants will learn how to provide emotional and practical support to individuals and families who are facing or grieving a death.
The class is structured around readings, discussion, and personal reflection. The series offers time for exploration into this challenging and often-avoided topic.
Space is limited, and registration and a pre-course conversation with one of the class leaders is required. Participation is free.
The extent to which individuals engage their mortality has a direct impact on how they live their lives. The course is offered as part of Brattleboro Area Hospice's continuing efforts to promote learning about and engaging in end-of-life realities, challenges, and opportunities.
The program is led by Patty Dunn, Hospice Program coordinator, and Ryan Murphy, Hospice Care coordinator.
The curriculum includes material used to train hospice and bereavement volunteers to serve area families facing terminal illness, death, and grief.
Brattleboro Area Hospice provides volunteer-staffed programs that complement professional medical services frequently used by families and individuals facing and experiencing a loved one's death.
The organization works closely with the medical community in a variety of settings to provide non-medical assistance to the terminally ill, and those close to them, that are projected to be within two years from the end of life.
Hospice also offers bereavement groups, counseling services, and volunteer support to community members seeking companionship and understanding surrounding and following a loss.
Brattleboro Area Hospice is a community resource on the issues of death and dying, and offers educational presentations and opportunities for exploration into this topic.