THE IRISH HOSPICE FOUNDATION - Issue 19 - Summer 2010
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THE IRISH HOSPICE FOUNDATION
Issue 19 - Summer 2010
Page 3 Page 5 Page 9
HFH Conference Fundraising Second Phase
Clontarf castle of Forum on
End of Life
“Enabling comfort and dignity at the end of life” 1
EDITORIAL This clearly indicates that resources are not The solution to this dilemma resides
FROM THE allocated based on objective need. within the HSE’s own reconfiguration
agenda. The new policy proposed to
CEO There is an agreed national policy adopted
by the Government which provides
for home care services, hospital-based
reshape the balance of care away from
acute to primary and community care.
It did so because it found that 40% of
palliative care and inpatient hospice units. hospital inpatients could be treated
The HSE five-year framework published in outside an acute hospital, and that if
June 2009 provides for the establishment the current situation were to continue,
of a 22-bed inpatient hospice service in there would be a need for an additional
Tullamore. This is in keeping with national 7,104 acute hospital beds. There is clear
policy. evidence that an integrated community-
based hospice service could play a pivotal
The Mid-West region is a good example role in this reconfiguration.
of compliance with national policy. The
30-bed Milford Hospice in Limerick is the There is already an empty brand new
hub of a service that supports 400 patients facility at Mount Bolus (10 miles from
who are being cared for by the homecare Tullamore) which would be a potential
service at any time. The inpatient unit suitable site for a hospice. The policy
provides not only ‘terminal care,’ but also for a 22-bed inpatient hospice unit in
respite care, emergency admissions for Tullamore accounts for less than 1%
IN June 2009 the HSE published complex symptom control, day care, and of the total State-funded beds. Under
a 5-year plan providing for nine outpatient services. reconfiguration the vast bulk of hospice
care would be provided in the home
new hospice in-patient units and and the hospice unit, as the ‘hub’ of the
When specialist hospice beds are costed in
additional beds for a number isolation from an integrated service, they service, would enable this to happen. The
of existing units – a total of appear to be more expensive than non- evidence clearly shows that patients dying
specialist beds. But the costs should be in the Midlands are needlessly occupying
200 beds in single rooms. We expensive acute hospital beds. The HSE
seen in the context of the overall service,
are now being told that the which enables 90% plus of the service to should establish a reconfiguration team
economy cannot afford this. be provided in the home. to transfer resources to where they are
needed; give best quality of care and
However, we believe the current The HSE could address the spectacular best value for money. Even if it started
reconfiguration programme inequity of provision, provide the required with eight beds before moving to full
hospice beds in the Midlands, and save implementation in five years or so, it
within the HSE could provide
money. This could be achieved by the would have an immediate impact.
these facilities at no extra cost, reconfiguration of existing services.
and improve quality of care.
We know from several international
This is best explained by comparing studies that patients in hospice care
two regions, the Mid West (with well spend more time at home being cared
developed services) and the Midlands for by their families, have fewer hospital Eugene Murray
(with no hospice beds). The expenditure admissions and shorter lengths of stay. Chief Executive
per capita in the four Midland counties of In other words where integrated hospice
Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath, at services exist, the cost to the State is more
€7, compares with €33 in the Mid West. than 25% less than ‘usual care’.
NEWSLETTER BOARD MEMBERS CONTACT DETAILS
SUMMER EDITION
We would like to deliver this newsletter Denis Doherty (Chairman), The Irish Hospice Foundation,
by email. If you would like to receive Brendan Butler, Cynthia Clampett, Morrison Chambers, 32 Nassau Street,
the email edition in the future, could Marian Finucane, Muiris X. FitzGerald, Dublin 2
you please send your email address to Cormac Kissane, Antoin Murphy, T: 01- 679 3188 F: 01- 673 0040
info@hospice-foundation.ie Kevin O’Dwyer, Liam Ó Sioráin, Eileen E: info@hospice-foundation.ie
Pearson, Don Thornhill, Vivienne Jupp. W: www.hospice-foundation.ie
Cover Image, Mary Harney Minister for Health and Children (centre) with Helen Donovan who co-ordinated the Quality Standards for End-of-Life
Care in Hospitals, and Denis Doherty, IHF chairperson. (Photo by Martin Maher Photography).
2 “Enabling comfort and dignity at the end of life”
The audit was completed in 24 acute
National Audit hospitals and in 19 community hospitals.
on End-of-Life Both documents are part of the Hospice
Friendly Hospitals Programme, an IHF
Care in Hospitals initiative in association with the HSE and
with the financial support of The Atlantic
Philanthropies.
The National Audit research team was
Introduction
led by Dr Kieran McKeown, Social and
Economic Research Consultant.
National Audit of End-of-Life Care
in Hospitals in Ireland, 2008/9
Dying in Hospital in Ireland:
An Assessment of the Quality of Care in the Last Week of Life
National Audit Report 5 Dr K
Final Synthesis Report ieran
McK
eown
May 2010 Eighteen separate influences on end-of-life care, which link with the
Quality Standards (also published on May 19th), were identified in
the National Audit
There are better care outcomes at end of life if
Hospital admissions through • Hospitals have end-of-life objectives in their plans
A&E negatively impact on care • Dying patients have a single room
• There are adequate staffing levels
outcomes at the end of life,
• There are team meetings especially between doctors and nurses
according to a unique national • Nurses are formally trained in end-of-life or palliative care since qualifying
audit published on Wednesday • A nurse feels prepared for the death of a patient
May 19 last. The audit also • Nurses are experienced
• There is quality discussion with patients and relatives.
shows that about one-fifth of
hospital patients could have died
at home if there were sufficient
supports. The National Audit also reveals:
The IHF audit finds significant differences • There are negative outcomes for patients who die in hospital having come
in the assessment by doctors, nurses and through A&E
relatives of care outcomes and the quality • The quality of patient documentation is uneven
of death. Doctors tend to under-estimate
• The quality of information given to relatives about various aspect of end-of-life
the negative aspects of care, relatives tend
care in hospitals is poor
to over-estimate them, while nurses hold
• A substantial minority of patients (20-25%) could have died at home if there were
an intermediate position.
sufficient supports
The proportion of “unacceptable deaths” • No relationship in the audit between the diagnosis of dying and care outcomes
is considerably higher in the assessment of • Doctors and nurses are reluctant to make decisions to stop invasive treatments
relatives (21 per cent) than nurses (13 per when patients are dying
cent) and doctors (3 per cent). • There is a hierarchy in the quality of dying in Irish hospitals: this is based on the
patient’s disease, ranging from best to worst from cancer to dementia/frailty
The National Audit on End-of-Life Care • Just as cancer is associated with more positive care outcomes, sudden deaths are
in Hospitals in Ireland, 2008/2009 was associated with more negative ones
launched at the From the Margins to the
• There is a need to strengthen the role of Specialist Palliative Care
Mainstream conference in Clontarf Castle,
• The hospital relationship with families (a strength of the hospital system) has a
Dublin, in tandem with new Quality
positive influence on care outcome
Standards for End-of-Life Care in Hospitals.
“Enabling comfort and dignity at the end of life” 3
Quality Standards for
End-of-Life Care in Hospitals
Part of
attendan
Castle c ce at th
onferen e Clonta
ce rf
Catríona Crow
e who addres
ence on the de sed the confer
ath in a Dublin -
her partner, Pá hospital of
draig Ó Faolái
n.
Prof Muiris FitzGerald, IHF
Board member, and Mary
Bowen, Operations Manager HFH
The Quality Standards set out a shared vision of the end-of-life care
each person should have and what each hospital should aim to
provide.
The Quality Standards were developed by Helen Donovan of the Professor Cillian Twom
Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme and were launched by the ey (left), Chair, Nation
Committee, HFH Progra al Steering
mme, and Mervyn Tay
Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney at the May 19th Manager, HFH Progra lor,
mme.
Conference.
The Four Standards have been developed in line with the
responsibilities of hospitals and staff and the needs of patients
and families:
The hospital has systems in Each patient receives high
IHF staff at the conference
place to ensure that end-of-life quality end-of-life care that is
care is central to the mission of appropriate to his / her needs
the hospital and is organised and wishes.
around the needs of patients.
Family members are provided
Staff are supported through
with compassionate support
training and development to
and, subject to the patient’s
ensure they are competent and
consent, given information
compassionate in carrying out
before, during, and after the
their roles in end-of-life care.
patient’s death.
4 “Enabling comfort and dignity at the end of life”
It’s not all doom and gloom! In the next few weeks we will be getting
in contact by post with all of our
supporters and asking them to complete
great. The bad weather meant our door- our first supporter survey. This is a very
to-door representatives were having great important for us. It helps us get a better
difficulty in travelling. It was proving very understanding of who our supporters
challenging to recruit cyclists for our 2010 are, and how we can best communicate
cycle challenges which were so successful with them. Each supporter of the IHF is a
in 2009 that we closed off recruitment stakeholder and has a right to offer his or
in February. General donations were her opinion on the work we are doing. I
struggling as we all took stock of our would ask that everyone try to participate
situation after such a tough Budget. and provide us with their feedback to help
us grow and develop as an organisation.
But from mid March things began to This is more important now than ever. All
change. For one thing, the seemingly responses will be treated in the utmost
endless winter actually came to an end. confidence.
It seems that anytime you open
Recruitment for our cycles picked up as
a paper or turn on the TV, there more and more brave people signed up to So while we are living through challenging
is an endless stream of bad news. cycle from either Dublin to Paris or Paris to times, we are delighted to see how many
Geneva – all of whom faced the additional people are still willing to go the extra mile
Day in, day out we are hearing and support our work. For this we are both
challenge of raising €3,500 to participate.
about all the negatives which humbled and grateful. Thank You.
are drowning out any positives. With the cycles now upon us, we are
delighted that we have achieved our Yours sincerely
While there is no arguing targeted number of cyclists for the two
our economic situation, it is challenges – 80 in total. We wish them the
heartening to see that so many very best of luck with their cycle and thank
them for their hard work in raising such a
of our supporters continue to significant sum of money in these difficult
raise vital funds for our work. times. Tim O’Dea
Head of Fundraising
The first two or three months of 2010 Our spring raffle also seemed like it would
definitely seemed to be setting the tone struggle as we found it difficult to recruit
for a very difficult year for fundraising. ticket sellers as easily as in previous years. For further information on any of our fundraising
Despite a very successful Christmas direct Again, this picked up and I am delighted events, please contact our fundraising department at
mail appeal which managed to beat our to be able to say that we have raised in the following:
ambitious target of €200,000, the early excess of €200,000. A massive thank you E: fundraising@hospice-foundation.ie
indicators for the year ahead were not to everyone who participated! T: 01-679 31 88
July 9-12 th Wholeway Round Motorcycle Run
July 17th Tag and Tug Event
July 18-23rd Dublin to Paris Cycle
July 24-29th Paris to Geneva Cycle
September 16th Coffee Morning
September 25th North Wicklow Motorcycle Enthusiasts Fun Run
October 9th National Nearest-the-Pin Competition celebrating
World Hospice Day
October Media Launch of Thank You Day –
The IHF’s latest special project
“Enabling comfort and dignity at the end of life” 5
ZURICH
OUR
CORPORATE Zurich continues to fundraise for the
PARTNERS IHF and it has various events planned
among staff to enable them to reach their
fundraising target by end of September.
We are grateful for their continued
support.
eridan,
Tricia Sh
a rity C h ampions, thy B radshaw
Boot Ch o nn ell and Doro m left).
Kenneth
O’C econd fro
with Ma ry M illea IHF (s DHL-BOOTS
BOOTS We are looking for more corporate
SUPPLY CHAIN
partners to assist us with the funding of
this programme which will cost the IHF a DHL-BOOTS Supply Chain has just
total of €2.5 million over the next 5 years. recently adopted the Irish Hospice
If you have any interest or queries on this Foundation as its charity partner and it
The new CEO of Boots Ireland – Debbie please contact Mary Millea at plans to work alongside Boots to raise
Smith expressed how heart warming it mary.millea@hospice-foundation.ie valuable funds which will go towards the
was to see the engagement of staff in the Children’s Hospice Homecare programme.
charity partnership scheme. She says that We are delighted to welcome them on
board and look forward to working with
“since taking up my new role recently
here in Ireland, I have been delighted
RSA Ireland them in the coming year.
to witness the tremendous effort and
achievement of staff in raising more than
€100,000 for our Charity of the Year - the
ROTARY
Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) in only six
months. From marathons to cake sales,
BIKE2BELFAST
parachute jumps to hill walking and EVENT A FANTASTIC
countless other fund raising activities, staff
involvement and participation has been SUCCESS!
amazing and inspiring”.
We are delighted to have Boots on board
as one of our main corporate supporters
and their commitment to raise €200,000
this year is much appreciated and will go
towards supporting and developing the
Children’s Hospice Homecare Programme
here in Ireland. Boots commitment this
year will fund 3 outreach nurses who will
coordinate services for children with life
limiting conditions.
Rotary organised a hugely successful
Dublin to Belfast cycle in aid of the
Irish Hospice Foundation. It took place
on Saturday May 29 and attracted
CEO receiving a
Eugene Murray, IHF almost 100 cyclists which was a great
for €3 8,0 00 from Phillip Smith,
cheque achievement for its inaugural event.
CEO RSA Ireland.
Well done to all the organising committee
– Matt Porter, Gillian Doyle, Grace
2010 is a significant year for RSA Insurance Heneghan, John Morton and Richard
as it is 300 years old. To celebrate this Adams.
milestone, it kicked off three months
of fundraising and volunteering, which This is now planned as an annual event
culminated in RSA Day on June 25th. and details of this year’s and next year’s
The Irish Hospice Foundation has a long event can be viewed on :
association with RSA in Ireland and was
Conor Walker, Do chosen as one of its charity partners. Staff
Richard Bradley
nal Geoghan an
d raised an impresseive €38,000 for each
www.bike2belfast.com
, all from Boots.
charity this year.
6 “Enabling comfort and dignity at the end of life”
Tag & Tug 17th
Enterprise Rent-a-Car
July 2010
Date for your diaries!
Enterprise Rent-a-Car will host ‘A car wash Day’ in their 3 largest stores in
Dublin and Galway on Saturday 17th July from 12.30 – 5pm. On this day
Enterprise employees will be providing a car wash service to raise money for On Saturday July 17th from
the Irish Hospice Foundation. 10am, the inaugural Tag & Tug
event in aid of the Irish Hospice
They invite all members of the public to come along if they can on the day and
have their car washed by the Enterprise team. All donations for car washes will Foundation will take place in Old
go towards supporting the development of hospice services across Ireland. Belvedere Rugby Club.
Teams will compete in Tag Rugby and Tug
of War competitions, as well as enjoying
great music and food – a perfect way to
spend a sunny Saturday! Team fees are
€120 for the Tag Rugby and €120 for the
The Hartford TOM HOR
AN & FRIE Tug of War or a special rate of €200 for
BENEFIT C NDS both. To enter a team you must have 12
D people and this must include at least 4
females (in order to have three on the field
during the Tag Rugby games). To register
a team for the event now and avail of the
The Hartford staff have adopted the
special rate, email: tagandtug@gmail.com
Irish Hospice Foundation as their charity
partner for the past number of years and
have organised various events to raise
valuable funds for the IHF including Santa
Idol, IT equipment Sale and a Cake Sale
to name a few. A member of staff Mary North Wicklow
Behan participated in the Mini Marathon
on the June bank holiday weekend – well
Motorcycle
done Mary! Thanks to all at the Hartford
for the continued and much valued
Enthusiasts Run
support.
On Saturday, September 25th,
the second Annual Motorcycle
SISK Fun Run organised by North
Wicklow Motorcycle Enthusiasts
will depart from the Grand Hotel
To follow on from the great Over €3,000 was raised from in Wicklow for a scenic 175-mile
success of last year’s Cork to sales of the Tom Horan & run through Wicklow, Carlow
Dublin cycle event organised Friends Benefit CD at the launch and Kildare before returning to
by Sisk management and on 29th May in Taylors Three the Grand Hotel for the evening
employees, this year they have Rock, in Dublin. The Benefit CD entertainment.
set themselves another great is produced and performed by
Tom Horan and features some of The event will build on the success of the
challenge, all to raise valuable 2009 run, which raised almost €4,000 for
funds for Hospice. Tom’s most popular songs. the Irish Hospice Foundation’s Children’s
Hospice Homecare campaign. This year
Staff will participate in one of the most The launch night was a huge success the proceeds will be divided between the
challenging fitness & stamina events in with 350 people attending and it raised IHF and the Wicklow Hospice Foundation.
Ireland – ‘Gaelforce West’ which will take over €3,000 which will be divided Registration is €25 and sponsorship cards
place in Westport on the 21st August. between the 3 charities Tom had chosen are available on request.
We wish the whole team of 20 people to be the beneficiaries, The Irish Hospice
made up of both Sisk employees and Foundation, Irish Motor Neurone Disease For further information or to register,
Trinity lecturers the very best of luck from Association and the Irish Cancer Society. please contact Pat on 086-2173524 or
all in the Irish Hospice Foundation. email: annualfunrun@gmail.com
Well done to Tom and many thanks to
everyone who supported him on the
night.
For more information check out Tom on
www.myspace.com/tomjhoran
“Enabling comfort and dignity at the end of life” 7
for your guests – a unique and special day marshalled bike ride. Each rider is
keepsake of your wedding day. For more to raise €850 or €1,300 including pillion
information contact the fundraising passenger. For further information please
team on 01 679 3188 or at fundraising@ contact childrenslifeline@gmail.com
hospice-foundation.ie
FORGOTTEN
GOLD APPEAL
The Irish Hospice Foundation has joined
with the Forgotten Gold Appeal to
encourage people to donate any broken
or unwanted gold jewellery to a good
WOMEN’S MINI cause. With gold prices at the highest for
many years, it is the perfect time to look
MARATHON around and see if you have any unwanted
old bits, or broken gold jewellery that is
not repairable. Regardless of condition
Thank you so much to the 133 women, or age, it has a potential value. Further
who ran, walked, and jogged the Women’s information is in the leaflet enclosed with
Mini Marathon for the Irish Hospice this newsletter. All you need to do to get
Foundation this year and raised much a pack is contact 1890 630 630 or visit
needed funds – Congratulations to all of
you - it was fantastic to see so many yellow
WHOLE WAY www.forgottengoldappeal.com to get
your free Gold Appeal recycle pack.
t-shirts on the day! ROUND 2010
CYCLES This is the 5th annual event of the
motorcycle challenge and The Irish
2010 Hospice Foundation’s Hospice Homecare
for Children Programme is delighted
to be one of 3 charities to benefit from
the event. Taking place on 9th – 12th
We are delighted to have 80 intrepid July 2010 it is one of Ireland’s most
cyclists taking on either Dublin to Paris or successful motorcycle road events, and
Paris to Geneva this July! Dublin to Paris attracts more than 100 riders on the 4
will see over 40 cyclists pedal an impressive
600km over 5 days. They will cross through
picturesque French villages and past
beaches made famous by the Normandy
landings in WWII, and will come into Paris
THANK YOU DAY
for a well earned rest under the Eiffel Tower.
This November the Irish Hospice Foundation will launch the first
Paris to Geneva is 510km over 4 days national ‘Thank You’ Day. Coinciding with the US Thanksgiving
through famous wine growing areas,
festival, the day is about encouraging people to take stock of their
medieval and Roman villages and
picturesque farmland. The last day brings lives and consider everything for which they have to be thankful.
the highlight of the cycle, a Tour de France
category 3 climb of the Col de la Faucille! In the midst of the current climate of recession and seemingly endless bad news,
The 80 cyclists are each raising €3,500 we hope the day will provide some relief and encourage people to recognise the
for the Hospice Foundation’s Hospice positives. To accompany the day we will be launching a range of Thank You cards
Homecare for Children Programme. which will be available from bookshops and newsagents, and directly from the IHF.
We will also be launching ‘A Book of Thanks’, which will be a book which people can
use as a diary and also record things for which they may be grateful.
WEDDING The book will be edited by The Irish Times journalist Róisín Ingle and will be designed
by the prominent designer, Stephen Averill. It will feature illustrations from Irish
FAVOURS illustrators including the author of the hugely popular Goddess Guide, Gisele Scanlon,
and BrenB, and messages of thanks from a diverse range of personalities including
Martin Sheen, Seamus Heaney, Colum McCann, Gay Byrne, Frank McGuinness,
Make your wedding favours a gift to Brendan Gleeson and many more.
remember by donating to the Irish
Hospice Foundation. In recognition of IHF supporter Sinead O’Connor has also re-recorded her iconic song ‘Thank You for
your contribution we will provide you with Hearing Me’ and donated its use to the project. The entire idea is the brainchild of
beautiful cards containing sunflower seeds producer Bill Hughes.
8 “Enabling comfort and dignity at the end of life”
Forum on End of
Life Moves into to explore the views and concerns that
were emerging. There were public
meetings in nine locations countrywide –
Second Phase Dublin (2), Galway, Cork, Limerick, Sligo,
Tullamore, Waterford and Dundalk.
The Forum which reported and
recommended radical proposals to deal The report and Draft Action Plan can be
with dying, death and bereavement has accessed on www.endoflife.ie . Copies
moved into its second phase with the can be received on application to Linda
creation of a National Council chaired by Collins, at The Forum on End of Life,
Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness. Morrison Chambers, 32 Nassau Street,
Dublin 2 or at Linda.collins@hospice-
President. foundation.ie
Mary McAleese
The Forum, an initiative of the Irish
Hospice Foundation (IHF) - was formally
launched by the President, Mrs McAleese
on March 11, 2009. It was the first time
any country asked its citizens nationally
to state their views on death, dying and
bereavement.
Chaired by Marian Finucane, the Forum
Mrs Just sought to identify what matters most to
ice Cath
McGuinn erine the public at the end of life from a wide
ess range of perspectives: social, health,
economic, legislative, administrative,
educational, cultural and religious.
The Forum’s Draft Action Plan which Marian Fin
emerged from the Forum’s Report written The Forum received 167 written ucane
by Bob Carroll, says Ireland needs a submissions from individuals and
national end-of-life strategy, transparent organisations. A total of 108
decision making at end of life, advanced presentations were given at 23 workshops
care planning, and the implementation of
national policies on palliative care.
The new National Council which had its
Some themes and recommendations from the Draft Action Plan
first meeting on Wednesday May 26 will
now prepare a plan of the work its intends
to do to take on the issues raised in the
report and Action Plan, but also other • Death is part of the Life Cycle
matters already emerging. • End of life is everybody’s business
• End of life is a public health matter
The council’s structure will reflect the need • Broaden the advocacy base for the reform of end-of-life care in Ireland
to engage with all sectors of society on • Develop public awareness about end-of-life issues and change attitudes to death,
death issues. The Forum will also have an dying and bereavement
annual event to address issues, act as a
• Develop and end-of-life strategy
sounding board and learn about progress
• Strengthen the information base for end-of-life planning and services development
in implementing the action plan.
• Strengthen regulation and standard setting
The report and draft action plan deal • Implement national policy on palliative care
with many social, ethical, legal, medical, • Explore possibility of developing a distinctly Irish dimension to end of life care and
administrative, policy and spiritual issues. welfare
They give a clear guide to what people • Promote transparency of decision-making at end of life
in Ireland believe are the issues at end • Promote discussion of proposed Code of Practice on Advanced Care Directives
of life. It is stressed that death issues are • Develop information provision
everybody’s business and that death is an • Enhance end-of-life education and training
issue at all ages. • Address financial concerns at end of life
• Improve the organisation of end of life and bereavement care
• Ensure that the Action Plan is balanced
“Enabling comfort and dignity at the end of life” 9
Bereavement tailored expert care to those who require
it. Remember, he says, bereavement
and co-workers meet including managing
the impact of a suicide on staff and the
counselling is required only for a small challenges of caring for a relative or child
and Information minority of people. with a life-limiting illness.
Services More can be done by helping people to
realise there are no set stages to grief.
Pet Loss Leaflet
While the notion of ‘stages’ has caught
Finding simple and people’s imagination it gives a false
straightforward information impression that there are right and wrong With the help of Allianz Pet Insurance and
ways to grieve. Solace Pet Bereavement the Irish Hospice
about grief can be a welcome Foundation launched a leaflet ‘Grieving
relief for some bereaved people. the Loss of a Pet’. We go through so much
At the IHF we have developed a with our pets that they become woven
into the fabric of our lives. It is therefore
range of information leaflets on natural that when we lose such a valued
different aspects of grief. There friend it will cause pain and grief. Most
people just want others to understand they
are 14 titles including a focus on
are experiencing the loss and this leaflet
understanding loss and on grief in explains some of the dynamics of pet loss,
the family. including talking to children about the
death of an animal.
Just before Christmas we developed a leaflet
entitled “Coping with Christmas when
you are bereaved”. This was distributed
to hospices, hospitals and nursing homes.
In December designer Richard Lewis and
broadcaster Marian Finucane launched a Information that helps people to
leaflet in conjunction with the Gay and understand their own grief – the range
Lesbian Network entitled “Coping with the of feelings, physical symptoms, thoughts
death of a same sex partner”. and actions is useful. Also information
that reassures about the normal nature of
grief and the range and variety of ways
Healing by Reading of coping is useful for people who are
grieving, and for those who are trying to
help them.
Bereavement ‘Bibliotherapy’ booklet – A
booklet outlining suggested reading and However, it is important that when people
useful online resources around each of the do want more help or would like to talk to Working with Suicide Bereaved
bereavement information leaflets has been someone from outside of their own family
compiled by the Thérèse Brady Library. or circle of friends, that appropriate help
Bibliotherapy is the practice of using would be available.
On Tuesday, May 18th, Dr Diana Sands
reading to aid in the healing process and it
The Irish Hospice Foundation provides presented a master workshop on “New and
has been successfully employed by public
a range of training and education creative ways of working with the suicide
and health science libraries.
programmes for those who support bereaved”. IHF hosted this workshop
The suggested titles are all available from
bereaved people. We also have a range of in partnership with Console. It was an
the Thérèse Brady Library and may be
bereavement information leaflets, books opportunity for IHF to link with people
beneficial to bereaved people and those
and resources. For more information look working in the area of suicide and reiterate
supporting them.
at our website www.hospice-foundation.ie the IHF vision of no one facing death or
or phone at 01 6793188 bereavement without appropriate support.
Helping after a death in the
family The invitees were working directly with
Lunch and learn clients bereaved by suicide. Thirty-five
‘Bereavement Care – what helps and people attended and there was a waiting
how can we improve it?’ - 30 palliative list of over 50. Representatives came from
care social workers and representatives of Grief is not something we can leave at HSE, Console, Turas le Chéile, Living Links,
voluntary organisations joined Professor the door when we come to work. It will Target Counselling and Depaul Ireland.
Henk Schut in a workshop at the Irish affect us - and in far-reaching ways. At a
Hospice Foundation on April 13th. minimum, concentration, energy levels, Dr Sands is Director of the Bereaved by
productivity and relationships with co- Suicide Service in Sydney, Australia. She has
To address this question, Prof Schut workers can be affected. Often managers recently developed an innovative Tripartite
(pictured above with Orla Keegan, IHF Head and colleagues want to help, but don’t model which she presented, along with
of Education, Research and Bereavement know what to do or say. This year six a video she has developed for children
Services) has studied bereavement for more ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions were held in entitled “Red Chocolate Elephants”. There
than two decades and is widely published. the Irish Hospice Foundation and two is a copy in the IHF library.
His messages for bereavement services are new topics were added since last year.
important – provide the best information These topics were developed to respond
to all bereaved people and provide to some of the challenges that managers
10 “Enabling comfort and dignity at the end of life”IHF/RCSI Certificate in
Children and Loss MSc graduation Thérèse Brady
Last April a group of 24 students at RCSI Scholarship
who work with children in a wide
We are pleased to
variety of settings received their The end of 2009 saw the
graduation ceremony for announce that Susan
Certificate in Children and Loss.
MSc Bereavement Studies O’Flanagan will take up
This course has been run through her position as the new
the IHF since 1994 and in 2003 students, who had spent
two years studying and Thérèse Brady Scholar in
was certified by the Royal College September 2010. Susan
researching an aspect of
of Surgeons in Ireland. bereavement and loss. This will register for a PhD and
education programme is will work with Ursula Bates,
We congratulate the graduates run in conjunction with the Director of Psychosocial
and there is a special thanks to Royal College of Surgeons in and Bereavement Services
Brid Carroll who co-ordinated the Ireland and equips students to at Blackrock/Our Lady’s Hospice on
programme. Student recruitment understand and work with the a three-year research piece. Susan
is a psychology student. She will be
for this programme is underway. bereaved people with whom
they and their colleagues come supervised by Dr Brian McGuire of
into contact. NUI Galway.
Focus on research
For over 20 years the IHF has been fortunate to draw on the support of a number of academics and experts
who made up the Irish Hospice Foundation Research Committee. From 2010 onwards the IHF contribution
to research will be channelled through the proposed All Ireland Institute for Hospice and Palliative Care so
the December 2009 meeting of the research committee was its last.
Chaired by Dr Barbara Dooley of University College Dublin the committee held its final deliberations by reviewing applications for the local
grant stream. A total of €50,000 was awarded at the final meeting to nine research projects from across the country.
IHF Local research grant applications - 2009
Principal applicant Institution Topic
Maria Bailey University of Limerick Community nursing for patients with
intellectual disability and palliative care
needs
Gráinne McGettrick The Alzheimer Society of Ireland Opening conversations –palliative care for
Dr Una MacConville people with dementia and their carers
Chiara Garattini Dept of Anthropology, Photography, Death and Memory: the use
NUI Maynooth of photography within palliative care.
S McDonnell Milford Care Centre Terminal delirium - Nurses’ views
Honor Nicholl Trinity College Dublin Technology used in the home when caring
for children with complex needs.
Audrey Agnew Marie Cure Cancer Care End of life care decision-making by
palliative care patients and their carers.
C O’Neill, C Quinlan Royal College of Surgeons in Patient Autonomy at End-of-Life, according
Ireland to Patients, Families and Friends.
Una MacConville In association with St Francis Capturing the invisible: Deathbed
Hospice Phenomena (DBP) in Irish palliative care
settings
Karen Ryan Mater University Hospital A local initiative to provide palliative care
services in an extended care facility
“Enabling comfort and dignity at the end of life” 11Palliative Care Education for
nursing homes
Education on Topics include healthcare provision for
these children, supporting social and and community
psychological needs, pain and symptom
Caring for the assessment and management, and ethical
hospitals
perspectives. To date over 1000 nurses
children and allied health professionals have
attended this programme nationally. This This programme aimed to
programme is delivered five times a year.
A Palliative Care Needs The remaining programme dates for 2010 develop relationships between
Assessment for Children are: local hospices and residential
(Department of Health and care settings through
Children and Irish Hospice introductory education sessions.
Foundation, 2005), identified • 7th Sep
temb A programme was developed to raise
the “substantial need for further Kilmore, C er Hotel awareness of the palliative care approach
avan
education and training for all for older people amongst care home
professionals involved in caring • 2nd No managers and all staff and to highlight
vember R new national end-of-life care standards.
Moran Ho ed Co
for children with life-limiting tel, Dublin w
conditions”. Seven hospice education centres
provided the education programme for
In response to this, two programmes 22 residential care settings. The training
are managed and co-ordinated by the was provided to 286 staff and to almost
Centre of Children’s Nurse Education at The seven-day Level B programme is a 90 managers who valued the inputs and
Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin more in-depth programme for registered predicted that it would have a beneficial
(OLCHC) and are funded by the Irish nurses and midwives directly involved impact on the care they provided. Most
Hospice Foundation. These are a Level in caring for children with a life-limiting felt better able to communicate with
A one-day awareness programme and a condition. The aim is to further develop residents about sensitive subjects such as
Level B seven-day continuing education the knowledge, skills and attitudes dying and bereavement and were better
programme - Caring for the Child with a required to enhance each child’s quality prepared to do their job. Nearly everyone
Life-Limiting Condition. Both programmes of life through meeting his /her identified (98%) would recommend the course.
have An Bord Altranais Post Registration needs and to provide supportive and
Category 1 approval. palliative care for these children and their The hospice and palliative care services
families. The programme is delivered four who participated in the pilot programme
The one-day Level A awareness times a year and facilitated in the Centre were – St Francis Hospice, Our Lady’s
programme is open to all healthcare of Children’s Nurse Education at Our Hospice, Marymount Hospice, Milford
professionals who are occasionally Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin. To Care Centre, Galway Hospice Foundation,
required to provide care for children with date 82 registered nurses have completed Northwest Hospice and Donegal Hospice.
life-limiting conditions and their families. the programme.
The Benefits of
PC at Primary who live in the community and
who are expected to die in the next
12 months. Death Reviews
Level As part of the IHF development grants,
St Francis Hospice, Raheny, has received
Questionnaires will be distributed funding for a quality initiative in public
A National Steering Group on to GP’s, Directors of Public Health residential nursing homes to improve end-
Primary Care Palliative Care Nursing and Specialist Palliative of-life care in the last year of life.
has been established with the Care teams to establish the level
of palliative care provision in these The project officer, Una Molloy, carried
support of the Irish College of settings and identify potential out death reviews with staff in residential
General Practitioners and the areas for development. The second units. On Monday June 28 last she said
HSE National Director of Primary phase, which will take place in that by implementing death reviews as
2011, relates to the implementation part of routine practice, all staff, including
Care. doctors, nurses, porters and caterers, felt
of initiatives that have been
supported and acknowledged in their role
In the first year, this group is prioritised.
of caring for patients. She was speaking to
seeking to identify palliative care IHF staff and outside interested parties.
initiatives that will support primary The target population for this group
care teams’ responses to people could be living at home or in a At several conferences in Ireland Una has
with advanced progressive diseases residential facility. received awards for her presentation on
death reviews.
12 “Enabling comfort and dignity at the end of life”You can also read
