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Home Posts tagged "End-of-life care"

Posts Tagged ‘End-of-life care’

Putting The House in Order Limerick

Posted on: February 4th, 2020

27/01/2020
In attendance at the launch of the ‘Putting Your House in Order’ series of FREE events around Limerick are, front row, from left, solicitor Sharon Cahir, Mayor of the City and County of Limerick Cllr Michael Sheahan, Anne Rizzo, Regional Age Friendly Programme Manager, Ireland West, and Rebecca Lloyd, Public Engagement Officer, Irish Hospice Foundation. Photo by Diarmuid Greene

AFTER the hugely successful Putting The House in Order series in Clare last year, we are now partnering with Age Friendly Limerick to bring the information sessions to the county starting in February.

There is one thing that you may not want to consider, because, here in Ireland, we do not like to talk about it.   Planning for what happens in the case of a medical emergency, where you cannot make decisions for yourself, or making known your wishes for when you die is essential so that your family can plan according to your wishes not their best guess for what you would have wanted.

An information session will be hosted in each of the municipal districts and will give advice on a range of topics under four main headings throughout February:-

  • Care Preferences

(Advance Healthcare Directive, Designated Healthcare Representative, Life Sustaining Treatments, CPR etc.)

  • Legal

(Enduring Power of Attorney, Making a will etc.)

  • Financial

(Bank Accounts, Insurance, Life Assurance, Credit Cards, Tax Affairs, Pensions etc.)

  • When I Die

(Organ/Body Donation, Post Mortem, Funeral and Burial Arrangements etc.)

The session will be delivered in two parts, the first part will cover wills, enduring power of attorney and other legal issues, and will be delivered by Sharon Cahir, Solicitor. The second part of the event will be delivered by Rebecca Lloyd, Public Engagement Officer with The Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF).   Rebecca will focus on the other three headings, Care Preferences, Financial and When I Die, and will guide attendees through filling out the “Think Ahead” booklet, published by the IHF.

The first event in the series will take place in Istabraq Hall, Limerick City and County Council Offices, Merchants Quay on Thursday 6th February, 2020 from 11.00 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. (registration from 10.30-11.00)   The events are FREE, but places are limited so booking is essential. For more information or to book a place at one of the events, please email jillian.robinson@limerick.ie  or aisling.walshe@limerick.ie or call 061 557541 or 061 557353.

Other locations & dates:

  • February 6th: Istabraq Hall, Limerick City and County Council, Merchants Quay, Limerick
  • February 7th: The Woodlands House Hotel in Adare, County Limerick
  • February 10th: The Longcourt Hotel in Newcastlewest, County Limerick
  • February 13th: The Millenium Centre, Caherconlish, County Limerick
  • February 14th: Istabraq Hall, Limerick City and County Council Offices, Merchants Quay

*All events will take place from 11am-2.30pm with a refreshment break.   Registration from 10.30am

A&E Viewing Room transformed at Tallaght University Hospital

Posted on: January 31st, 2019

 

A&E Viewing Room transformed at Tallaght University Hospital

The newly transformed viewing room in the Emergency Department at Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) has been officially opened.
Funded through the Irish Hospice Foundation’s (IHF) and HSE’s Design & Dignity programme, the viewing room forms part of the Rosheen Suite, which also includes two refurbished family rooms supported through funding from the Adelaide Health Foundation.
As part of TUH’s commitment to the IHF’s Hospice Friendly Hospital programme, the Emergency Department Viewing room was redesigned and in 2016, following a successful submission to the IHF and HSE, Tallaght University Hospital was awarded a Design & Dignity grant.
The Rosheen suite comprises of two family rooms and a viewing room to care for relatives of deceased patients and/or critically ill patients. The viewing room provides a non-clinical space for families to be together, away from the busy emergency department. It is a quiet and peaceful room, centred round a beautiful piece of stained glass artwork created by artist Peter Young. The piece depicts a scene from the nearby Wicklow Mountains and is entitled ‘Nadur’.
Speaking at the opening, a member of the Emergency Department Staff said: “The environment is much better. It is now a peaceful and dignified space that I am proud to use. Before, it was so distressful using the room with no decent chairs for families to sit on.”
The TUH project team consisted of Ciaran Faughnan, TUH Executive Team and Director of Estates and Facilities, architect Ronan Rose Roberts, artist Peter Young, Yvonne Connaughton, Brendan Malone, ED staff and Ann Hickey End-of-Life Care Co-ordinator.
Mary Lovegrove, Design & Dignity Project Manager:  “Design & Dignity brings design excellence to hospitals where so many people spend their last days.  We’re aiming to create sanctuaries for patients and families at a very distressing time, and allow them the proper space and privacy they need. Thanks to the leadership and support of the HSE we have funded over 40 hospitals projects across Ireland to date”.
Hospitals can be very unhospitable places for newly-bereaved families. The IHF and HSE has funded over 40 hospital projects through Design & Dignity – including mortuary refurbishments and family rooms – to ensure dignity and privacy at this most difficult time. For more info: https://bit.ly/2R2ZqQx
The Irish Hospice Foundation is the only charity dedicated to dying, death and bereavement in Ireland. 80 people die in Ireland every day and the IHF believes everyone has the right to be cared for and to die with dignity and respect in the care setting of their choice. Our mission is to strive for the best end-of-life and bereavement care, for all. The IHF campaigns to make excellence in hospice practices, bereavement and end-of-life care a national priority and to stimulate the conversation about dying, death and bereavement in Ireland. The IHF receives core funding from Pobal from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government’s Scheme to Support National Organisations 2016-2019. 

Vibrant ‘Tree of Life’ unveiled at the Mater Hospital

Posted on: March 22nd, 2018

 

A ‘Tree of Life’ has been unveiled in the heart of the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital to celebrate their work to improve end-of-life care.
The giant artwork was lovingly created to celebrate the Hospice Friendly Hospitals’ 10th Anniversary by over 300 staff, patients and their families.
Each ‘leaf’ on the ‘tree of life’ is unique, some people memorialised a family member or friend who died, others it was handprints and thumbs up for good end-of-life care.
Mater End-of-Life Care Coordinator Diarmuid Ó Coimín: “These works of art were created on October 5 over coffee and cakes. The response was overwhelming. We expected 150-250 but within an hour over 300 people had created their own piece. We are truly delighted with the feedback and support of patients, staff and their families creating well-deserved awareness for the Hospice Friendly Hospital programme. In turn, improved patient care will be delivered as result of this engagement
Special tribute was also paid to Eavan McSweeney, Senior Speech and Language Therapist and Artist John Nolan who compiled the unique art piece.
The celebrations are part of the 10th anniversary of the Irish Hospice Foundation’s (IHF) Hospice Friendly Hospital (HFH) programme, which seeks to ensure that end-of-life, palliative and bereavement care are central to the everyday business of hospitals.
To mark the occasion, the IHF launched the special Hospice Friendly Hospitals 10th Anniversary Grants to celebrate the work and progress achieved across the ever-growing network of hospitals under its remit since being established in 2007.
 Grants totalling €10,000 were awarded to hospitals nationwide, with HFH End-of-Life Care coordinators organising workshops for staff, patients and their families, hosting special awareness days and coffee mornings, publishing new multilingual information leaflets etc. To find out more about our Hospice Friendly Hospitals programme, click here.
The IHF receives core funding from Pobal from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government’s Scheme to Support National Organisations 2016-2019.

Public Enables 600 People to Die at Home in 2016 through our Nurses for Night Care

Posted on: March 7th, 2017

SIX hundred people with diseases other than cancer who were approaching death last year had their wish to die at home fulfilled with the support of Nurses for Night Care.

The nationwide service supported by the Irish Hospice Foundation through donations from the public provides free night nursing care to people in their own home. Nurses stay throughout the night providing comfort and practical support to patients and their families.

Retired pharmacist and mother of five Mona O’Riordan died peacefully at home with her daughter Aine by her side. Mona, originally a native of Birr, worked in her Dublin pharmacy until the age of 78 and was 92 when she died.

Aine said the family was “lucky” to make it possible for them to fulfil their mother’s expressed wish to die at home. “She had a really good life and a really good death, in her own bed, in her own home. You couldn’t ask for better than that.” 

“I’m not a nurse and I’d never been present at this stage of someone’s life before. The nurse was wonderful; from the moment she arrived she could not have been better. We knew she was going to mind our mother from a medical point of view but she also minded us.

“We obviously miss her, but when you feel it couldn’t have gone any better that makes a real difference,” she said.

Mona O'Riordan with family

Caption: The late Mona O’Riordan with family. Retired pharmacist and mother of five, Mona died peacefully at home with her daughter Aine by her side helped by the Nurses for Night Care service.

 

Marie Lynch, IHF Head of Healthcare Programmes, said: “Three quarters of Irish people would like to die at home, according to IHF research but only approximately one in four get to do so. Support from Nurses for Night Care enables people to die at home if that is their wish.  70% of people die from non-cancer illnesses every year such as dementia, heart disease, motor neurone disease, advanced respiratory disease and end stage kidney disease.

Demand for the service grows annually. We provided 100 nights of care when launched the service 11 years ago. That number grew to 2,027 nights in 2016 costing €649,171. Care was delivered in 26 counties across Ireland and we are so very grateful to everyone who donated to make this difference. Referrals are made by the Specialist Palliative Care home care team to us and it is then arranged for a nurse to visit the home,” concluded Ms Lynch.

The IHF has an agreement with the Irish Cancer Society to provide the service.

The IHF receives core funding from Pobal from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government’s Scheme to Support National Organisations 2016-2019.