Healthy End of Life Project (HELP)
Orleans United Church (OUC) is one of the pilot sites involved in Carleton University’s Healthy End of Life Project (HELP) Ottawa.
The purpose of the Help Project is to implement an evidence-based participatory community development framework to increase community capacity around illness, dying, caregiving and grieving and to develop a collaborative end-of-life culture.
The desired outcomes are:
- Normalizing conversations about caregiving and end-of-life issues;
- Building the knowledge and skills of family and community caregivers; and
- Mobilizing helping networks, and creating stronger partnerships between professional health & social care services and community members to support people who are frail, chronically or terminally ill, dying, grieving or caregiving.
OUC has developed programs to assist individuals and families normalize talking about death and grief, and to make it easier for people to offer and ask for help.
We have developed a relationship with the Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre to facilitate the process of accessing the resources that they offer such as support for caregivers, transportation, counseling, and referrals.
You are invited to use the toolkits listed below as guides for creating similar programs in your community to develop literacy and comfort around caregiving, illness, death and grief:
- Caring Connections Toolkit
- HELP HINTS Toolkit
- Toolkit for Hosting a Grief Walk
- Toolkit for Offering a Worship Service on Caregiver Support.
OUC has hosted workshops on the topics related to end of life such as wills, powers of attorney (POAs), house and car ownership, and banking.
As we continue to develop new programs and reach out into the community, we welcome anyone who seeks to improve the lives of those who are ill, at end of life, caregiving or grieving to join us in this work.
For more information about the HELP Project Ottawa visit Healthy End of Life Project (HELP) Ottawa.