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

It's been a while 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."

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 program because 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.

'Life to life'

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

She said her doctor recommended she join when 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."

Volunteer Deborah Gault helps lead a walking group that meets weekly near the Museum of Vancouver in Kitsilano, heads to Kits Pool and then back.

She said all group walks were cancelled between March and September, at which time the program adapted for safety with masks, distancing and bubbles of walkers.

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

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

Hope to resume soon

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

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

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

Gooch said the suspension of the walking groups should serve as a reminder that 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?"