Singing for Health helps patients with their breathing and coordination.
RECORD numbers of people with life-limiting illnesses across East Lindsey are taking advantage of a further expansion in day therapy services provided by St Barnabas Hospice.
An increase in demand has prompted the charity to increase the number of sessions it offers at Louth Hospice, ensuring the needs of those living with both cancer and non-cancer conditions are met.
St Barnabas, the principal provider of end-of-life care across the locality, now provides day therapy three days every week from its locality base at the hospice.
And it continues to take the initiative into the heart of other communities by staging sessions once a fortnight in Skegness and Mablethorpe.
Around 200 patients have already benefited from various day therapy services, which are free-of-charge and currently funded wholly through charitable donations to St Barnabas.
Among the therapeutic sessions with a difference is “Singing for Health”, a choir comprising patients who find that it helps with their breathing and coordination.
St Barnabas has also expanded its physiotherapy services based at the hospice, which now operate two days a week, in response to increasing demand to provide more palliative rehabilitation to our patients.
“As well as a caring charity, St Barnabas is also a listening one,” said St Barnabas’ Nicky Ingall, who manages Louth Hospice. “Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we have been able to respond by expanding the range of services that our clients tell us they want and will benefit from.
“Day therapy is a developing service, growing in popularity month-on-month since we opened our doors two years ago offering just one session a week. Now we run sessions three days a week and are exploring ways of increasing this further, as the community need is there.
“Many of the specialist services that hospices like St Barnabas now provide do not require a person to be an inpatient – there are so many other ways that we support people that are medically more appropriate and preferred by the patients themselves.
Day therapy can help people with a range of issues which they may be having difficulty with, such as physical, emotional, social, spiritual and psychological problems. The aim of attending the range of day therapy activities is to help people manage their symptoms, help them gain more confidence at home by assessing their personal needs, and help improve the quality of their lives.
St Barnabas also provides pre and post bereavement counselling through its Family Support Service, with a drop-in bereavement group meeting every Thursday afternoon at Louth Hospice.
Anyone aged 18 and above can refer themselves to any or all of the different services provided, without the need for a doctor’s letter. For any further information on how St Barnabas’ care services can be accessed in your area please call 01522 511566 or visit www.stbarnabashospice.co.uk