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Most seniors rarely or rarely express their grief at the loss of a loved one. Also in Veldhoven. This is what the volunteer care providers from the KBO-Brabant senior network who come to their homes signal. That is why KBO-Brabant is entering into a partnership with the ‘Living with Death Association’, which will offer its hundreds of volunteers additional training in the field of grief support.
VELDHOVEN – Dutch people know (too) little about grief and how to deal with the loss of a loved one. They often only learn this when they are confronted with a death. Research by the ‘Living with Death Association’ shows that good, reliable information about grief is desperately needed and can help in dealing with the loss.
Surviving relatives often remain ‘behind the front door’ with their grief; there is (too) little open discussion about it.
There is more mourning behind the front door than expected, as the many volunteers from the KBO-Brabant seniors network who often visit the homes of the elderly to provide assistance have noticed. The ‘Living with Death Association’ and KBO-Brabant are joining forces to provide support in dealing with grief in this area. The first step is for KBO volunteers to be trained by the Association in recognizing the need for more information and supporting mourners where necessary.
“Our Wmo client support staff, volunteer senior advisors, administrative support staff and Vitality Day volunteers notice that seniors have many questions about grief,” underlines Leo Bisschops, chairman of KBO-Brabant. During the Vitality Days, elderly people say that they are dealing with loss and struggling with it. Finding appropriate, reliable information about grief and loss is not easy for those in the middle of a grieving process. That is why it is so valuable that the Living with Death Association will train our hundreds of volunteers in this area.”
“The Living with Death Association will provide information to the large group of volunteers from KBO-Brabant about our support offering in the field of dealing with grief and loss,” says Ellen van Son, director of the Association. “We take them into the world of loss and grief in practical workshops. Tips on what to do in a conversation – and especially what not to do – are the common thread in these workshops.”
About the Living with Death Association The Living with Death Association wants grief and loss to have a more natural place in life. The Association advocates layered grief support to better equip Dutch people to deal with dying and grief. With her trained volunteers, she provides support through, among other things, Grief Chat, Grief Telephone and Grief Support to anyone who needs it. About KBO-Brabant/Zeeland KBO-Brabant is the largest senior citizen association in the Netherlands with more than 122,000 members. The organization consists of 278 local associations, the Departments, spread across villages and neighborhoods throughout Brabant. KBO-Zeeland has also been affiliated since 2024, so the official name is now KBO-Brabant/Zeeland.
Documents: Press releaseKBOBrabantVereniginglevenmetdood.pdf
The knowledge of KBO-Brabant volunteers is periodically refreshed on so-called ‘Return Days’. On the next 2 editions of these refresher days, director Ellen van Son and Volunteers & Services manager Manon van der Lit of ‘Association of living with death’ will inform the volunteers of KBO-Brabant about how to best support people who have to deal with death. could be. The ‘Return Days’ are on April 16 and 25 at various locations in Brabant. See: kbo-brabant.nl
Return days
The Dutch know (too) little about grief
