Purple House finding new ways to provide its services
BRAY’S Purple House Cancer Support has announced a new range of cancer support programmes which will support people and families throughout Ireland in a response to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Conor O’Leary of Purple House explained that since the pandemic began, the team have been experiencing an increase in demand for the service.
The online service now available means that patients can receive support and attend classes and support groups from their hospital bed or from the comfort of their own home through telephone and video counselling.
There are also a range of classes to enjoy such as creative writing, ukulele lessons and relaxation to add to the online cancer support groups.
Children living with cancer will also be supported through online art therapy classes on Zoom as before each class, each child is posted an activity pack to use during the class.
Conor said that the services help children to come to terms with a cancer diagnosis and learn skills to cope with their feelings and emotions, while also interacting with other children in the same situation.
‘Covid-19 has forced us to look at how we provide our Cancer Support Services but social distancing measures have created an opportunity for us to reach more people by providing a range of services online. A physical room can only hold so many people, but by using technology like Zoom we can have hundreds of people attend the same class anywhere in Ireland or around the world at no extra cost.
‘ There will always be a need for physical face to face support services, but until restrictions are lifted, we must ensure that Cancer patients are supported at all times.
‘While we are aware that there are a number of cancer patients whereby telephone and virtual counselling may not suit, we will endeavour to meet their needs in whatever way is possible to alleviate any stress or anxiety during a difficult time in their lives,’ he said.
Throughout the challenging time, Purple House continue to provide hospital transport for chemotherapy and radiotherapy to ensure that patients still attend their appointments and the team were also involved in getting food hampers for patients who are isolating to limit them visiting supermarkets.
For more information on these services and more, you can contact Purple House on 01 2866966 or visit www.purplehouse.ie.