Program date: March 29, 2022

Death is unavoidable, yet we keep it at arm’s length. We know it is going to happen, but we don’t want to let it in. The purpose of the Living with Loss series is to help people feel more comfortable talking about and exploring issues related to death. This lesson highlights self-care and managing grief. Talking about self-care and how to manage grief is important because it helps people learn how to adjust and keep on living after a loved one has died. When grief is properly processed, coping and healing can result.

To help people better take care of themselves and manage grief, the FCS Agent in __Estill________ County taught the lesson, “Living with Loss: Self-care and managing grief.”  Two participants attended the program, and two completed a post-lesson evaluation. Of these, both reported that the lesson helped them better understand the grief experience for themselves or others. All participants reported that they learned various ways to work through grief. One reported that they learned how to manage grief triggers.  All participants reported that the lesson taught them how to better take care of themselves (or others) during times of grief. All reported learning the benefits of grief journaling and reported learning the benefits of bereavement support groups. In summary, this lesson increased fifty percent of participant’s overall understanding about the importance of self-care and managing grief and fifty percent were unsure on the question.   

All participants were white and female and range in age of 55-64. 

Participants attended this lesson because they wanted to learn about the grief process to help others.

A valuable lesson participants learned 

1. Places to go to for help
2. To eat better and get the proper exercise