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Evolving role of the hospice day centre during the COVID-19 pandemic
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  • Published on: 26 May 2021
    Hospice Virtual Wellbeing Support during the COVID-19 Pandemic

    We have read with interest your letter about the changing face of day hospices since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We would like to share our experience of support provided by our Wellbeing Centre team during this time which has evolved and developed into what is currently an entirely virtual service. This has been a challenging but also an extremely positive experience with an enthusiastic response from our patients wanting to engage in our extensive virtual offer of hospice wellbeing services.

    In March 2020, we began by offering 3 virtual sessions per week. This has grown exponentially over the year and we are now offering up to 4 sessions per day with a total of 18 sessions per week supporting, on average, 23 patients per day. We have provided multiple types of support including yoga and other exercise classes, guided relaxation, art, Q&A sessions with our doctors, discussion support groups, carers’ groups, management of breathlessness and pain, and anxiety and fatigue management.

    Age range of attendees of the virtual sessions have been between 40 to 90 years old, and from early to late in their disease trajectory. Between April 2020 and April 2021, we had 4,603 attendances with 413 referrals to the service.

    We have conducted service evaluations to evaluate this new way of providing support to our patients and the feedback indicates that patients are keen for support to continue to be provided virtually.

    “Keep at it even after loc...

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    Conflict of Interest:
    None declared.