Bereavement walking group on hold as Lower Mainland COVID-19 cases continue to rise - Action News
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British Columbia

Bereavement walking group on hold as Lower Mainland COVID-19 cases continue to rise

The Vancouver Hospice Society hopes a long-running walking program that supports people in mourning will resume soon. With COVID-19 cases reaching new highs in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser health regions, the society felt it couldn't run safely.

'It was a hard call,' one volunteer said of the decision to put the group support walks on hold

Vancouver Hospice Society bereavement walk volunteers Deborah Gault, left, and Miyoko Young, middle, are pictured near participant Noelle Baxter, right, in Vancouver Monday. The walks are on hold for the time being due to rising COVID-19 case numbers in the Lower Mainland. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

It's been awhile since Patricia Gooch has gone on what have become familiar walks in an unfamiliar time.

Gooch, 37, is a participant in the Vancouver Hospice Society's bereavement walking group. It's a program the society has run for over 15 years to help people experiencing the loss of a loved one.

Participants walk, talk and share their feelings of loss.

Gooch said the group has provided welcome support for her since her husband died in January of brain cancer and then her father died four months later of pancreatic cancer.

"It's hard," Gooch said of not being able to mourn normally during the pandemic. A funeral has still not been held for her father.

"We don't want to put [other people] in jeopardy just because we feel like grieving the way that we would have pre-pandemic. That feels irresponsible to me."

Patricia Gooch, left, poses for a photo with Aaron Learmont at their wedding reception in 2016 at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre. (Patricia Gooch)

But with case numbers spiking in the Lower Mainland the hospice society has put the walks on hold.

Extra temporary restrictions are in effect in the Lower Mainland and health authorities have warned against walks turning into group meetings.

The society has not been forced to suspend the walking programbecause it is part of a support group, executive director Sarah Cobb said.

"We just felt, out of an abundance of caution, at this time it was best for us just to pause these walks and just hopefully resume as soon as possible," Cobb said, noting the emotional nature of the walks makes it hard for people to avoid forming groups.

"We're anxious to [return] because ... people are certainly still grieving."

Cobb said the walking program's pause is a sign of how growing case numbers are impacting important services for people.

Patricia Gooch's husband, Aaron Learmont, left, and father Dave Gooch, pose for a photo at Kelowna General Hospital in 2019. They died within four months of each other in the first half of 2020. (Patricia Gooch)

'Life to life'

Noelle Baxter, 81, is another participant who is hopeful the walks will soon return.

She said her doctor recommended she joinwhen her husband, Allen, died in Jan. 2019.

"I have with them amazing support because nobody ever really prepares you for what it's like after you lose your better half," Baxter said.

"You think you're all alone; that you're the only person in this situation. But no."

Noelle Baxter, who lost her husband Allen, is comforted by Vancouver Hospice Society volunteers Deborah Gault and Miyoko Young. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Volunteer Deborah Gault helps lead a walkinggroup thatmeetsweekly near the Museum of Vancouver in Kitsilano, heads to Kits Pool and then back.

She said all group walks were cancelledbetween March and September, at which time the programadaptedfor safetywith masks, distancing and bubbles of walkers.

But the walks were suspended once again 10 days ago, when the new restrictions went into effect.

Deborah Gault has been a bereavement walk volunteer for 16 years. She said the program is important during the pandemic when isolation is an even bigger concern than normal for people in mourning. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Gault says in her 16years of volunteering, these are the only times the walks have been called off for more than the odd day whenpaths are too icy.

"We're in a bit of a break and we'll wait and see how that is assessed whether we can start again next week," Gault said. "It was a hard call."

Miyoko Young has volunteered for seven years. She said the walking group builds a supportive community where participants have a shared understanding.

"Unlike other social gatherings, it's quite naked: life to life," Young said. "They're so truthful in facing what they have to face."

Miyoko Young said the walking program is especially important in the fall and winter when holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas can bring back memories. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Hope to resume soon

Cobb said other bereavement walking programs exist in B.C., andmany of them are on pause as well.

In the meantime, she said the society is continuing other counselling services, including those done viavideo.

She is hopeful the groups can start to meet again next week.

Gooch said the suspension ofthe walking groupsshould serve as a reminderthat rising case numbers have consequences.

"I do hope that people take heed of that," Gooch said. "Maybe just have a word with themselves about, is this really necessary, what I'm doing right now? And what is the ripple effect of my actions?"

CBC Vancouver'sImpact Team investigates and reports on stories that impact people in their local community and strives to hold individuals, institutions and organizations to account.If you have a story for us, email impact@cbc.ca.

With files from Belle Puri