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Help Texts now offers bereavement support to Canadian hospices

For more than five years, Help Texts has been working with hospices across the US to provide compassionate, clinically sound support to bereaved families. Now this support is available in Canada, and leaders at hospices including Canuck Place Children’s Hospice and Vancouver Hospice Society have adopted Help Texts as a new way to provide year-long support to the families in their care.

Grief Coach4 min read

Six pain points grievers have after a death... and how HelpTexts (Grief Coach) texts can help

Grief Coach founder Emma Payne and Head of Bereavement Melissa Lunardini sat down with UK psychotherapist Liz Gleeson on her podcast, Shapes of Grief. Throughout their conversation, they touched upon six pain points grieving people have and the unique ways Grief Coach texts offer support.

A close-up of a person’s hands resting on an open handwritten journal next to a warm cup of tea on a wooden table, taking time for quiet reflection during the grieving process.

Grief7 min read

The grieving process: what happens when we lose someone we love

People will tell you that grief is a process. They mean well.

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.

Bereavement2 min read

The Ones Who Know Us Best: Sibling Losses

When a sibling dies, it's not just the physical separation. It's also the removal of daily moments. The calls, texts, laughs, and reassurances go away. It’s the conversations that only your sibling would understand, that are lost. For adults, losing a sibling means losing a retirement buddy, support taking care of aging parents, and the ability to share childhood memories. For children and adolescents, losing a sibling young can create losing a playmate and someone to read stories and share childhood with.

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.

3 min read

How a Physician Associate Used Text Messaging To Get Support for Grief And Burnout

Tracey Piparo is a Physician Associate (PA) with RWJBarnabas Health in New Jersey. She's one of only 200 PAs in the US who specializes in palliative care. Tracey was happy to discover support from Help Texts in 2023, an innovative text-based service offering accessible, confidential, and convenient support via text message. "I believe that there is awesomeness in the simplicity of texts," she says. "As a PA with not only a demanding career but a hectic home life, I appreciate the ability to receive the info when I am able and also appreciate the succinct suggestions that arrive at just the right time."

Dr. Karen Wyatt, smiling, with gray hair and wearing a teal collared shirt

Partnership2 min read

Grief Coach welcomes new affiliate, Dr. Karen Wyatt, creator of End-of-Life University

Dr. Wyatt is looking forward to sharing Grief Coach with people, especially those supporting grievers. She says, "I value the fact that Grief Coach allows each person grieving to name supporters who will also receive text messages. Many times I see friends and loved ones who have the best intentions of offering ongoing support to the griever, but day-to-day life gets in the way and they simply don't remember important anniversaries and occasions."

Illustration of two parents standing over an empty crib

Bereavement7 min read

Supporting families through loss: The need for bereavement care in fertility treatment

For the millions of intended parents pursuing fertility treatment, the journey toward parenthood often involves hope and anticipation but also profound loss and grief. While fertility clinics excel at providing medical interventions to help families conceive, many fall short in addressing the emotional aftermath when treatments don't succeed or pregnancies end in loss. Fertility clinics that recognize the inherent risk of disappointment and bereavement, and make it a priority to support their patients’ complete well-being with ongoing support, build trust with families, and optimize treatment outcomes, too.

Close up of an exhausted caregiver resting their face in their hands, representing caregiving burnout and cancer loss.

Grief6 min read

Grieving a cancer loss when you are burned out from caregiving

You did everything. The appointments. The medications. The middle-of-the-night wake-ups.

Smartphone screenshot of a sample Grief Coach text message from Hospice of the Western Reserve, offering weekly bereavement support

Hospice4 min read

Hospice of the Western Reserve becomes the first hospice in the US to deliver grief support via text message

Bill Finn, CEO of Hospice of the Western Reserve, announces partnership with Grief Coach. "It is critical that we find innovative new ways to care for people after a loss," says Finn. "I'm proud that our bereavement team will now be working with Grief Coach to deliver personalized, text-based support to the many hospice families we care for each year."

Grief8 min read

Grief after a suicide loss

If you are reading this, you have lost someone you love to suicide. And your grief might feel like something you've never experienced before.

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