Hospice Waterloo Region is proud to participate in the 2023 Arts and Aging Day in Canada on Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023.

Arts and Aging Day Canada is presented by Kate Dupuis, Schlegel Innovation Leader in Arts and Aging at Sheridan Centre for Elder Research and the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA).

Why do we use the arts in our programs with anticipatory grief and bereavement? 

• Creativity and art is used for self-care and grief work – both anticipatory grief and bereavement. 
• Mark-making can help us to express certain emotions/feelings – the marks become descriptions, expressions & are symbolic in nature.
• The aim is to slow down, work freely and with no finished object in mind – by doing this, we can concentrate on the present moment and make deliberate marks.
• This process helps us to set aside any preconceived notions of what “art” is “supposed to look like”.
• In workshops where we use creativity and the arts, we call them a “low skill/high sensitivity” experience – you do not need any arts experience or feel “artistic” to participate.
• When we offer our group arts programs, we are creating a container, a holding space for all the thoughts, feelings, & sensations our clients bring and facilitating an expression of their experiences.  It provides a space to release. 
• The group becomes a space to attend to the nervous system, process difficult interactions, feelings, emotions, and memories.  We tap into the parts of the brain that does not use words.  The group soothes the amygdala. 
• We focus on the process and not the end result.  We use a “high sensitivity – low skill” inclusive approach.  It’s not what we are making, rather it is what we are experiencing that is important.  
• The aim is to slow down, work freely with no finished object in mind – by doing so, we concentrate on the present moment. 
• In our mark-making workshop, we are in a way creating our own visual language, and the marks become descriptions and expressions of our experiences and are symbolic in nature. 

Legacy of Love

Hospice of Waterloo Region offers a legacy program known as Legacy of Love. This program is available to people residing in Waterloo Region who have a life-limiting illness. This includes those individuals who are residing in the community and residents at the Cook Family Residence.  

Legacy work is an essential element and intervention in providing holistic palliative care.

Legacy activities are a way for families to share special moments together and provide a unique opportunity to reflect on life events and the people who have shaped them. They also result in the creation of a meaningful project that serves as a living memory after a person’s death (Allen et al., 2008). Legacy activities have also been shown to address the existential and spiritual issues that are so important in the overall suffering of someone at end of life. They can also improve a sense of well-being and can ease the process of grief for family and caregivers (Keall et al., 2015).  It is the very process itself that is therapeutic, allowing a person and their family to come together to create something together.  

Legacy of Love activities are available to all community clients and residents of Hospice Waterloo Region. Legacy activities can be suggested based on a list of available options, and/or tailored to meet the needs of the client, resident and family being served. The goal of this program is to provide all the materials and support necessary to complete the projects free of charge. Activities are supported by staff and legacy-trained volunteers.  

Short Term Outcomes: 

• Provide clients with a life-limiting illness with the opportunity to leave a legacy for their loved ones. 
• Introduce clients to different legacy activities that can be used when leaving a legacy.  
• Provide palliative clients with the sense of wellbeing in knowing they are able to leave something behind for their loved ones.  
• Eliminate some of the stress by providing the necessary materials needed for the client to leave a legacy with their loved ones. 

Long Term Outcomes: 

• Providing the family of the client with a beautiful legacy which they can carry with them. 
• Giving the family something they can treasure and remember their loved one by.  

Contact Us

If you are interested in learning more, or connecting with us on a legacy project, contact us today.