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How to help a friend after a stillbirth

We’re taught what to do in all kinds of emergencies (think airplane crashes and earthquakes), but no-one teaches us what to do when the inevitable happens. No one teaches us what to do when someone we love, loses someone they love. October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month, which means we all have a good opportunity to learn.

Bereavement5 min read

New Bereavement Cost Calculator shows that grief is expensive

Health plans, particularly Medicare Advantage plans, are using the new bereavement cost calculator from Help Texts to estimate the true cost of bereavement and their cost savings when grief support is provided.

Bereavement4 min read

Supporting Grieving Employees: How the LCBO is leading the way in Canada

When Lilian Riad-Allen’s mom died in 2021, she felt as though everything she knew about the world was completely upended. Feeling lost, she sought out grief support and came across a company called Help Texts, which provided ongoing, expert bereavement care via text message. Lilian signed up for support from Help Texts and found the messages really helpful, with powerful reminders and suggestions, personalized and tailored to the loss of her mom. As the Senior Director for Workplace Health, Safety & Wellness at the LCBO, Lilian openly shared about her experience with grief, and before long, she found that others started sharing as well.

Grief6 min read

Should you try to take your mind off grief?

Wondering how to take your mind off grief? Stepping away isn't avoidance, research shows it's part of how healing actually works.

Help Texts graphic titled Why text? explaining that receiving texts increases dopamine and boosts motivation and well-being, with a line-drawn brain icon

Grief Support4 min read

Why Choosing Text Was The Best Decision I Could Have Made For Grievers

When I first chose text messaging as the vehicle I'd use to build a global grief support platform, I thought it would be my MVP - something I could fund off the side of my desk while keeping my tech job. Text, I thought, was affordable, scalable, and nearly ubiquitous. Flash forward 10 years and I believe my decision to build a text messaging platform was the best decision I could possibly have made. I've learned a lot about the technology, psychology, neuroscience, and impact of text as a mental health intervention. Other technologies come and go, but everyone still loves text messages. Here's why.

Grief7 min read

What should you do when a loved one dies?

Not sure what to do when a loved one dies? This guide covers early grief, practical tasks, and how to let people help, at your own pace.

Bereavement4 min read

We’ve removed the last hurdle to grief support: Help Texts now has "Pay-As-You-Go Pricing"

Since our launch in 2018, Help Texts has been breaking down the barriers to grief support.

College students smiling while sitting on a bench

Grief Support7 min read

Why does social support drop off when you need it most?

The people in your life didn't stop caring. Here's why social support drops off after a loss, and what you can do when the silence starts to hurt.

Graphic with a line-drawn skull icon and the word Thanatology, defining it as the study of death, dying, and bereavement

Bereavement2 min read

What is Thanatology

Among the million things I (embarrassingly) didn't know in 2016 when I started working on Help Texts (we were called Grief Coach back then), is that there's an incredible field of study called Thanatology, and that the world is full of (IMO undervalued) Thanatologists who make the end of life experience better. Much better.

Illustration of two people in separate frames connected by a tangle of scribbled lines between their heads, representing
complicated emotions

Grief3 min read

Grief is love with nowhere to go. Except when it isn't. Grieving a complicated relationship.

Grief is often described as love with nowhere to go.

Graphic with the text "96% of grievers who responded to our first subscriber survey said they find Grief Coach's text messages helpful."

Grief Coach2 min read

Grief Coach's new text-based survey tool delivers strong results

Within moments, we received our first responses, and within the first 24 hours, we had nearly a 50% response rate.

Sample Grief Coach support text: "Tomorrow will mark the 3-month anniversary of Jamie's death, and may be a
particularly difficult day for Ally. Reach out to Ally tomorrow if you can, and give her the opportunity to talk about Jamie if she wants to."

Hospice6 min read

How text messages can help hospices — and all of us — support our grieving loved ones

Now hospices can meet the growing demand for bereavement support with regular tips and reminders delivered via text Since launching Grief Coach, I’ve been asked time and time again if I find it depressing doing this work. The answer is always, always no. I don’t find this work depressing — in fact, I’ve never been happier at work than I am today.

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