Learning about palliative care

STAFF from the Milford Care Centre in Limerick will be in Ennis next Thursday, asking people one question for Palliative Care Week, What Have You Heard?

What Have You Heard? is the chosen theme for the annual week and seeks to identify what the public knows about palliative care. The basis of the theme comes from the premise that if people don’t know what palliative care is, how would they know how much it could help them or their loved one?

Palliative Care Week is an annual all-island initiative aimed at promoting palliative care. Throughout the week, a national awareness campaign will be launched, which will incorporate active engagement with the general public on the subject of palliative care.

To answer the question, the staff of Milford Care Centre will be engaging with the public through a number of forums. First, there will be a competition that will ask the public to submit a poem, short story or video illustrating what they have learned about palliative care. Secondly, the staff of Milford will visit shopping centres, including Dunnes Stores in Ennis and others in the region, to engage directly with the public.

Milford Care Centre chief executive Pat Quinlan says, “Palliative care is not just about end-of-life care, it has a focus on improving quality of life of patients and their families when facing life-limiting illness through physical, spiritual and psychosocial care. I would encourage members of the public to take this opportunity to engage with us and to learn more about palliative care and the work of Milford Care Centre within the Mid-West.”