Kerry Harrison
Advanced Practitioner / Head of Hospice Day
Service (HDS)
I started in my role in February 2012 in what was “Day
Therapy” my first impressions were of a friendly team of staff and
volunteers. Patients attended
weekly but there did not appear to be very much structure to their day and no
specific goals set with them for attending.
I quickly saw that patients referred to Day Therapy have
problems in 3 main categories -:
- · Cancer
- · Neurological diseases (MND, Parkinson’s, MS)
- · Long term Chronic conditions (heart failure, chronic chest conditions, kidney failure)
Realising that “one size service does not fit all”, it
became clear that to be able to meet the individual needs of patients, families
and carers the Care Model required needed to be much more flexible and underpinned
by Therapy. Our aim is to support
patients to be as independent and have the best quality of life irrespective of
their illness.
In November
2013 Day Therapy closed and was re-launched as Hospice Day Service
In April 2013, 167 patients attended Day Therapy compared to
268 in April 2014 and this number continues to rise, meaning we are helping more people.
HDS are now offering “Drop In Sessions” Tuesday 11:00 -12:30
and Thursday 14:00 – 15:30.
These sessions are for patients under the care of Hospice in
the Weald to attend with their carer’s, no pre booking required (01892 820509
for enquiries).
Carer support information is on offer and there is range of
interesting topics covered including, hand massage, quiz’s, gentle exercise and
much more.
Once a month Nell our Creative Artist runs a Saturday
Morning “Family Creative Session” where patients and families, including
children (of ALL ages!!!) can come together to get messy and create all sorts of
different projects. These sessions are fun and patients are finding them very
beneficial, it also encourages children to come to the hospice and not be
afraid of it.
As well as 1:1 support including symptom control, advance
care planning, counselling, music therapy, complementary therapy, physiotherapy,
there are group activities-:
- · Creative Expression Group.
- · Fatigued Group ( helpful hints and techniques for managing fatigue)
- · Falls Group ( prevention and management)
- · Visiting Artist workshops.
- · Spiritual gatherings
- · Craft Group
Coming soon….. Mindfulness Meditation, Breath Easy and
Hearty Matters Groups.
I am lucky to have a fantastic team to work with in HDS,
which includes, staff nurses, healthcare assistants, therapists, creative
artist, administrator and a myriad of Volunteers who support us on a daily
basis without whom we could not provide the service.
Wherever possible patients are requested to find their own
transport to HDS but in circumstances where this is not possible we have a team
of Volunteer Drivers, and ambulances are used for more poorly patients.
If anyone reading this is interested in becoming a volunteer
in HDS (especially driving patients) please contact Julia.cronin@hospiceintheweald.org.uk
Finally there are messages on this blog from patients
telling their stories and experiences, if you have anything to add please do
comment or contact nell.mellerick@hospiceintheweald.org.uk
Regards
Kerry
Head of Hospice Day Service
Head of Hospice Day Service
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