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New
Family Support Brochure (PDF download)
The Threads of Life Family Support program provides families
affected by a workplace tragedy with the only one-on-one
peer support system in the world that is delivered by
trained Volunteer Family Guides who have also suffered
from a workplace tragedy. They know first-hand what
families are going through. Developed in partnership with the
Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, this Family
Support program trains families who have been affected by a
workplace tragedy to become peer support providers –
'Volunteer Family Guides'.
Volunteer Family
Guides offer peer support to other families suffering
from
a workplace tragedy
The family support
program provides:
- a family member with
personal and sustained interaction with a trained
Volunteer Family Guide to facilitate a sharing of
experiences;
- an opportunity for
families and workers to meet each other and create
communities of support; and
- material resources to
assist in understanding the grieving or traumatic
emotional processes/experiences that occur after a
workplace tragedy.
In February of 2005,
Threads of Life trained the first Ontario family members who
experienced a workplace tragedy. Seven family members had a
loved one killed as a result of a workplace tragedy and one
family member has a loved one living with the outcome of a
serious life-altering injury.
The 10-day training program
empowered these volunteers to become one-on-one peer support
providers.
Using a 10-module Resource
Guide that was developed in partnership with the Ontario
Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) the participants
were taken through an in-depth training program that
included:
Principles of Grief, Active
Listening, Story Listening, Communications Skills, Healthy
Coping Skills, Self-Care, A Picture of the Legal & Inquest
Process, and an overview of How to Work with existing
Community Resources.
Facilitators were recruited
from the network of partners that have supported Threads of
Life since its beginning.
A second group of Volunteer Family Guides were trained in
May 2007.
Volunteer Family Guides: Helping Families Dealing with
Workplace Tragedy
Volunteer Family Guides are family members and
friends who have been affected by a workplace tragedy and
have volunteered their time to help others. Volunteer Family
Guides go through
extensive onsite training to become peer support providers.
They learn how to draw on their own “life story” to help
another through their journey of healing. Volunteer
Family Guides meet together
on a regular basis throughout the year to share and network.
Volunteer Family Guides
provide support to families through listening on the
phone, meeting in person for a walk (if geographically
feasible), or chat via email. Along with peer support Volunteer
Family Guides also link family members to other community organizations.
To become a Volunteer
Family Guide you need to be far enough along on your
journey that you are able to offer your support to others
who may be just starting. Please refer to our Volunteer
Family Guide job description for more information. If you
are interested in becoming a Volunteer Family Guide, please
call to find out when the next training session begins or
send us an e-mail at shickman@threadsoflife.ca.
Each worker and family member who has been affected by a
workplace tragedy is a thread in the quilt of life. Each
thread, by itself, cannot stand along, but when woven
together provides strength. Although we are individuals, we
are also connected in the fabric of life.
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