Background and aim Standards for hospice care and chaplaincy in palliative care support the need for patient’s families/carers being provided with an opportunity to:

• remember their loved ones that they have lost in a meaningful way

• to access post-bereavement support whilst in attendance at a specially designated event

As part of the hospice clinical strategy, the Family Support Team piloted a series of smaller “Time for Remembrance” events having previously hosted a larger annual event. This project aimed to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a bimonthly service as an alternative way of providing post-bereavement support.

Methodology The pilot ran for an 8 month period with services held on a two monthly basis. The individuals who were invited to attend these services had been bereaved one year previously. Feedback was gathered via survey questionnaires from:

• Bereaved relatives and friends attending the services

• Staff from Family Support Services and associated volunteers

In addition, attendance figures were collected.

Results Feedback was obtained from 53 of the 127 attendees (41.7%) and 5 staff/volunteers involved in a total of 4 remembrance services.

The content, structure and duration of the bimonthly remembrance services were exceptionally well received by the individuals attending, as determined from the feedback given via the questionnaires.

Some minor suggestions were made that could be considered to improve the delivery of the bimonthly service (e.g. timing of the services).

Conclusions The opportunity to remember a loved one via attendance at a Remembrance Service is an important component of ongoing bereavement support and should therefore be offered, irrespective of the model used.

The bimonthly service provided greater access to Family Support Service staff on a personal basis than the annual event.

Attendees suggested that the provision of a service for those individuals who wish to remember their loved ones for a second occasion was important.