Award-winning East Midlands based funeral directors, A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service, has been offering its services to care homes across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire with training sessions to help staff deal with the bereaved.
Company Director and fourth generation, Jackie Lymn Rose, has been visiting care homes across the region for around six years to help staff feel more confident in supporting families and close ones during loss.
The sessions aim to break down the stigma around death and provide staff with knowledge on the appropriate steps they need to take after a resident passes away.
A.W. Lymn has served the region for almost 120 years, offering a high-quality service and care to its customers.
At the end of each year, A.W. Lymn contacts care homes across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire to inform them of its Christmas and New Year opening hours.
Jackie decided to extend the funeral directors’ offering around six years ago by also asking if any of the homes would be interested in receiving training on caring for the dying and the bereaved.
The training has since gained traction and now Jackie will hold sessions at 27 care homes this January and February.
Jackie said: “A.W. Lymn is proud to support other local services and ensure that those who pass away in care homes are treated with dignity and respect. For many, death can be a difficult topic to discuss especially when a relative or close friend is in care.
“The training sessions aim to open up discussions with the staff and give them the tools and knowledge necessary to support the bereaved.”
The training can also be used to help care home staff answer residents’ questions about what will happen to them when they pass away.
Each session lasts around one hour and covers a range of topics including the legalities surrounding a death, through to emotional support and guidance, advice on funeral planning and attitudes to death in different cultures.
Jackie added that feedback from the sessions has been positive and that staff who attended noted that they felt in a better position to support residents and their families and friends surrounding death.