The Susan & Mark Feinglos Grief Initiative: Strengthening Grief Care in Oncology
What this is
The Feinglos Grief Initiative is a first-of-its-kind effort to design and pilot a model for integrating grief care directly into oncology settings ~ supporting patients, families, and healthcare providers together.
Led by PAUSE in partnership with the Feinglos Fund & Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke, this initiative begins with a dedicated Phase 1 focused on research, listening, and co-design.
Why this matters
In healthcare grief is not a single moment. It is ongoing, layered, and shared across patients, families, and providers.
Families often feel unprepared for the emotional realities of illness and loss
Providers carry significant, often unacknowledged emotional labor
Grief support is rarely integrated into clinical systems in a sustained way
This initiative aims to change that.
What we’re doing (Phase 1)
Over 14 months, PAUSE will work with Duke and Durham-based community partners to:
Learn from patients, families, and providers
Honoring previous and existing efforts made (with two milestone events, a gathering honoring Duke Health workers contributing to and advocating for bereavement care; a gathering honoring families and patients who were held by Duke Health workers)
Map existing grief-related practices and gaps
Establish and/or partner with with advisory councils (family, provider, bereavement, and community)
Study national models and best practices
Co-design a pilot program to care for providers, patients, and families
This phase ensures any future model is informed, grounded, feasible, and aligned with real clinical workflows and lived experience of Carolinians.
What’s different about this approach
Centers provider wellbeing as infrastructure, not an afterthought
Builds with the institution, not for it
Honors existing practices rather than replacing them
Prioritizes emotional safety, ethics, and sustainability
Designed to become a replicable national model
About PAUSE
PAUSE is a nonprofit organization reimagining how individuals, communities, and institutions engage with grief, caregiving, and end-of-life.
Read more about the project below
Durham Philanthropist, Rebecca Feinglos, and Major Academic Medical Center Launch Groundbreaking Grief InitiativePhilanthropist Rebecca Feinglos Partners with Duke Health to Launch New Grief Support InitiativeWhat we’re looking for
We are currently in a relationship-building and learning phase and are seeking:
Conversations with leaders in oncology, palliative care, and healthcare innovation
Potential partners, advisors, and thought collaborators
Community-based grief, health, and care organizations and providers
Funders interested in advancing grief care within medical systems
Opportunities to share and learn from aligned initiatives
Contact
Alica Forneret, Executive Director
Stevie Luna Ibarra, Program Manager
Shante DeLoach, Events and Operations Manager