b'GRIEF SUPPORTA space for remembering and reflectionSupporting long-term care residents, families and teams through grief with Anonymous reflections demonstrate themes ofloss, grief and death in Reflection Room installationsReflection RoomsOver the past five years, there have been more than 10,000 By Shikha Patel, Hana Irving, visits to 76 Reflection Room installations across Canada. Justine Giosa & Paul Holyoke These have been hosted in diverse settings, including hospices, museums, hospitals and universities. Earlier this summer, month-long installations of the Reflection A s we move towards a post-COVID-19 future, findingRoom started being offered to long-term care home communities in an initial rollout period, as part of the new ways to address grief and loss in long-term careprovinces grief and bereavement strategy in the context home communities is an important priority. Theof the pandemic. Fourteen homes have engaged thus Reflection Room is an evidence-based art installation thatfar in hosting a Reflection Room, and the long-term care uses storytelling to generate open dialogue about dying andhome administrators involved have offered overwhelmingly death without reluctance and fear.positive feedback that the Reflection Room is quick and simple to set up, takes up very little space in the long-term The Saint Elizabeth Foundation, SE Research Centre andcare home, and, due to its uptake and impact, has been a Ontario Health Central Region Long-term Care Planningmeaningful way to give back to the long-term care home Table have been collaborating to make the Reflection Roomcommunity members who have shown incredible resilience. experience accessible to all long-term carehomes in the Central Region as part of a grief andLong-term care leaders have shared their gratitude with bereavement strategy. us for providing a way to offer something meaningful back to their communities that have experienced profound The Reflection Room offers residents, staff and caregivers anchallenges throughout the pandemic, says Nancy Lefebre, immersive and relaxing space to take a few quiet moments,Executive Director, Saint Elizabeth Foundation. read others reflections about their experiences, and share their own reflections by writing on a card and attaching itThe experience has now been made available as a gift to all to a Reflection Wall. Paul Holyoke, Executive Director oflong-term care homes across the Central Region of Ontario, the SE Research Centre, says, The arts-based participatoryat no cost, to support family and friend caregivers, staffdesign of the Reflection Room creates a shared communityand residents.environment to help with processing loss and the resulting emotions, while allowing residents, family members,If you know a long-term care home that might be interested caregivers and staff to access the space in a way thatin hosting a Reflection Room, please contact Project respects physical distancing and other pandemic guidelines. Manager Shikha Patel at ShikhaPatel@sehc.com. While installations are only taking place in the Central Region for The creation of this dedicated space for reflection in long- now, expressions of interest from long-term care homes term care homes is one way that residents, family andoutside the Central Region are also welcomed. LTCTfriend caregivers and staff can start to engage with their experiences throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. ManyShikha Patel, BHSc is a Project Manager at the SE members of the long-term care home community have experienced loss, unparalleled fears about the safety ofResearch Centre, SE Health; Justine Giosa, PhD, themselves or their residents, and a heightened degree ofis an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School social isolationall layered on top of a myriad of otherof Public Health Sciences at the University of challenges given the global context of the pandemic. TheWaterloo and Managing Director of the SE Research Reflection Room not only engages community membersCentre, SE Health; Hana Irving, MA, is the Director, in acknowledging and processing these challenges, butPhilanthropic Programs, at the Saint Elizabeth also supports their experience of remembering, celebrating,Foundation; Paul Holyoke, PhD, is the Executive teaching, learning and connecting in order to move towardsDirector of the SE Research Centre, SE Health.collective recovery and healing.22 LONG TERM CARE TODAY Fall/Winter 2021'