Fair Oaks Day Hospice staff have been working hard to continue to support service users and the people who play such a vital role in caring for them – as Walsall Healthcare highlights national Carers Week
Amanda King, Diversional Therapist at the Palliative Care Centre in Walsall, said colleagues have come up with new ways of connecting with their service users while they are not able to attend the day hospice.
“Many of the carers we know are missing out on their much-needed breaks as day hospices like ours, which provide them with the chance to take some time out knowing their loved one is being cared for, have had to close their doors during the pandemic,” she said.
“The nurses in the team have continued to provide support about symptom control but the social connection is equally important. We wanted to try and continue to provide that support as much as possible not only to our service users but to their carers too.
“We decided to turn to social media to connect with our service users and their carers from the comfort of their own home and continue to offer that social development that is really important to their mental health and wellbeing.
“We have been running a number of activities including morning song requests that everyone joins in on and sing along to, light exercise, quizzes, sharing photos and stories of happy memories with each other and celebrating occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries and the 75th commemoration of VE Day.
“I think it is safe to say all our service users have enjoyed it and it has given our carers a little bit of time back to enjoy a cup of tea or do something for themselves which is really important. It has also been lovely for us as we really miss seeing everyone so being able to keep up to date with how they are doing and see a smile on their face has been great.
“We want to say a big thank you to our service users and carers for taking part – your contribution means we can all continue to connect with each other and support each other through this difficult times and that means a lot – keep going and we will hopefully see you soon.”