Grief Literacy: From Theory to Action

Event Details

Event type: All Ages

Grief Literacy: From Theory to Action. Presented in conjunction with the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement (IWG).

How would you know if your community was grief literate?

In 2018, the Public Health sub-group of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement asked themselves this question. Out of their reflective process they developed and defined the concept: Grief Literacy.

Grief Literacy is the capacity to access, process and use knowledge about the experience of loss to better support all the grievers in our communities. While grief is universal, Grief Literacy will be unique to each community. Grief literacy is a fundamental component of societies that value compassion, community, and mutual support. Broad acceptance and further development of Grief Literacy depends on open communication, identifying challenges and obstacles to promote awareness, and inspiring action aimed at creating more compassionate communities around us.

The idea of Grief Literacy has spread around the world – Grief Literacy belongs to everyone!

Grief Literacy asks us all to reflect on: How would we know if our social worlds were grief literate? Our understandings of Grief Literacy and our abilities to transform these understandings into action will be developed and deepened through the conference, Grief Literacy: From Theory to Action.

The goals of this conference are to:

·              Provide a conceptual overview of Grief Literacy;

·              Showcase examples of Grief Literacy from around the world;

·              Provide tools for participants to move ‘from theory to action’ in their own communities.

Grief Literacy: From Theory to Action is being held at Dalhousie University on Saturday September 30, 2023. Doors open at 8:30am ADT, and the start time is at 9:00AM ADT. Grief Literacy: From Theory to Action includes speakers from Canada, Australia, Japan, and more. Dalhousie University - Collaborative Health Education Building is located at 5793 University Avenue, Halifax, NS. The cutoff to purchase tickets is Saturday, September 30, 2023, 5:59am ADT unless it sells out earlier.

In Canada, September 30 is the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation: “The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.”

The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation is a day of ACTION. Together, at this conference, we will honour the grief of Indigenous peoples in Canada and imagine together how Grief Literacy can be developed and supported in all our communities.

September 30 is also Orange Shirt Day: “an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools, and to promote the concept of ‘Every Child Matters.’” The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.

We encourage all participants to read about Orange Shirt Day and wear orange to honour the thousands of Survivors of residential schools.

This event is part of Good Grief Nova Scotia, a week of grief related activities. For information about all events, see goodgriefnovascotia.ca.

For any further questions, please email us at info@goodgriefnovascotia.ca. 

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