Little Legacies: The Solace and Connectedness of Ellie ’s Boxes

by Kristina Newport (@kbnewport)In 2016, the palliative care community lost a dedicated advocate and compassionate caregiver when Eloise “Ellie” Coyne died. She was well-known to the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Community where she held the position of Volunteer Coordinator but her colleagues knew the all different roles she played for patients and staff on the 11 bed unit: mother, advocate, healer, listener, comforter and mother. Of all the many things Ellie provided to her patients and colleagues, perhaps the most important was here complete acceptance of all people, with an uncanny ability to meet people exactly where they were and see value in each person.Ellie regularly provided opportunities to create legacy through story telling, artwork, photos and mementos. It was rare for a patient to leave the Thomas Palliative Care unit without a pillow case of signatures or a plaster caste with a handprint. One of the legacy projects that now lives on in her absence has been lovingly named “Ellie’s Box”.While Ellie was still living, she worked with Palliative Care RN Dawn Quinn to create small glass stones backed by pictures or words that are meaningful to patients and their family members. On the back of the pictures, families could have the fingerprint of their loved one done in archival ink. It was just another one of the ways this caring team helped families and loved ones to make a meaningful connect in they could carry with them. “This is so much abou...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - Category: Palliative Care Tags: grief hospital interprofessional newport palliative care The profession volunteer Source Type: blogs