b'MENTAL HEALTH Regular memorial services honouring residents who havedied and offering time for residents, team members and care partners to share memories and feelings.As team members build confidence in communicating about and strengthening resident-centred palliative care, their own sense of well-being improves. As a course participant shared, The session made me realize the importance of self-care. The facilitator did a great job of making me understand how I grieve and the importance of grieving together as a team. I think our team got closerthis day. Team Essentials: Engaging Families in Distress Poor interactions with family members can often be a major stressor for team members. With the Team Essentials: Engaging Families in Distress course, team members learn to use structured and compassionate communication tools to better communicate with residents, families and colleagues. The course provides practical training, including the use of SBAR (Situation, Background, Action/Assessment and Recommendation/Request) to share information about a family interaction with other team members. When team members are communicating family concerns effectively, there are overall improvements in the quality of care and a greater sense of team cohesion.The course also teaches learners to apply the ARC Compassionate Communication Tool (Acknowledge, Reassure and Clarify) when communicating with a family member in distress. The ARC tool guides learners to communicate with kindness and compassion, support family members, and avoid negative outcomes.You can find the Engaging Families in Distress e-course on the Ontario CLRI website. Lighten the anvil on her chest If we shift back to the frontline worker at the outset of the story, how would her situation look differently when her supervisor arrives during the final goodbye to the resident?Was there an opportunity to acknowledge the grief she was feeling and to give her a short time to process the moment?Was there an opportunity to commit to a team debrief on the impact of the loss of the resident?Was there a chance to pay tribute to this wonderful woman within the home? We all have opportunities to foster an environment where we can lighten the emotional load of colleagues experiencing the feeling of having an anvil ontheir chest. LTCTDaniel Wilcox is the Manager, Communications with the Ontario CLRI. For information on the courses mentioned above, visit www.clri-ltc.ca. www.oltca.com LONG TERM CARE TODAY 39'