Our mission is to facilitate and support healthy grieving for patients, families, and significant others before, during, and after death, and to educate and support the staff who provide their care.
"The way we deal with loss shapes our capacity to be present to life more than anything else. The way we protect ourselves from loss may be the way in which we distance ourselves from life. We burn out not because we don't care but because we don't grieve."
-- Rachel Naomi, Remen Kitchen Table Wisdom
We provide a clearing house for information, resources, and support regarding grief, loss, dying, and death. Support is available in a variety of ways for patients, families, and staff through the services listed below. Contact us at bereavement@mc.duke.edu.
Services
Service of Remembrance. This event, originally scheduled for October 25, has been cancelled.
Staff memorial service. A time for community, prayer, reflection, music, grief & hope, and space to remember Duke employees who have died. This memorial event is held in the spring and fall. Call 919-684-4750 for more information.
Pediatric Day of Remembrance. E-mail pedsdayofremembrance@duke.edu for more information.
Grief Awareness Week. The purpose of the activities, event, and displays during this week is to increase awareness of issues pertaining to grief and loss in the workplace and promote strategies for the healthy grieving and self-care of staff at DUMC and Duke University Hospital. Learn more about the 2020 Grief Awareness Week, which will be November 16 – 20, 2020.
Bereavement Advisory Council
The Bereavement Advisory Council (BAC) is a multidisciplinary committee that works closely with the Bereavement Services Program to develop and sponsor programs for patients, families, and staff in areas of grief, loss, death, and dying. We recruit new members in the fall. New BAC members start in January and serve two-year terms. Call 919-684-4750 for more information. Download an application (PDF, 30 KB).
End-of-life Care Programs
The following programs offer an overview of local, state, and national news, legislation, events, calendars, newsletters, resources, and initiatives.
Grief Counseling, Support and Resources
- Duke Homecare & Hospice Bereavement Services
- Grief in the Workplace (for Duke employees)
Consultation
Staff is available to develop, facilitate, or present training or support opportunities regarding dying, death, loss, and grief.
Grief Materials
Grief is a natural reaction to loss, and each person grieves in their own unique way. The following grief materials can help you understand the grief process, and support your journey towards healing.
Adult
- Dementia: Issues of Loss and Grief - English (PDF, 57 KB) / Spanish (PDF, 57 KB)
- Helping Yourself After a Loss - English (PDF, 96 KB) / Spanish (PDF, 68 KB)
- Understanding Grief and Mourning - English (PDF, 89 KB) / Spanish (PDF, 99 KB)
- Grief in the Workplace (for Duke employees)
Child
- Suggestions and Guidelines for Children and Youth that are Grieving (PDF, 1.3 MB)
- Helping Yourself After the Loss of a Child - English (PDF, 82 KB) / Spanish (PDF, 75 KB)
- How Family and Friends Can Help - English (PDF, 54 KB) / Spanish (PDF, 38 KB)
- A Father's Grief (PDF, 88 KB)
- Healing Together - As A Couple (PDF, 81 KB)
- Understanding Grief and Mourning (PDF, 89 KB)
Baby
- A Father's Grief - English (PDF, 87 KB) / Spanish (PDF, 110 KB)
- Healing Together as a Couple - English (PDF, 27 KB) / Spanish (PDF, 27 KB)
- Helping Yourself After the Loss of a Baby - English (PDF, 84 KB) / Spanish (PDF, 34 KB)
- How Family and Friends Can Help - English (PDF, 55 KB) / Spanish (PDF, 25 KB)
- Understanding Grief and Mourning - English (PDF, 89KB) / Spanish (PDF, 27 KB)
Traumatic loss
- Coping After a Traumatic Death - English (PDF, 67 KB) / Spanish (PDF, 76 KB)
- Coping After a Suicide - English (PDF, 66 KB) / Spanish (PDF, 72 KB)
- Coping After a Homicide (PDF, 86 KB)
Additional grief-related information
- Mourner's Bill of Rights (PDF, 38 KB)
- How Can I Support Someone Who Is Grieving? (PDF, 43 KB)
- Adapting to Loss (PDF, 62 KB)
- Children's Grief (PDF, 127 KB)
- It Won't Be the Same This Year (PDF, 39 KB)
- Vision Loss and Grief (PDF, 104 KB)
- Grief Bibliography (PDF, 65 KB)
- Cultural Competence at End of Life (PDF, 270 KB)