Anything goes on hospice Tuesday
This hospice awareness week Lake Taupo Hospice Clinical Manager Suzie Kuper talked to Kirsty Lawrence about her 10 years at the organisation, in particular the popular Tuesday Club.
Every Tuesday the Lake Taupo Hospice is transformed into whatever the patients want it to be.
Tuesday Club gives them an opportunity to do crafts, have people come in and perform, share stories with each other, and just have a break from whatever they have going on outside the hospice doors.
Lake Taupo Hospice clinical manager Suzie Kuper has been with the hospice for 10 years, but she remembered how the first Tuesday Club event occurred.
It was right after she started and her core concern had been getting the medical side of the hospice up to date – but what she didn’t realise at the time was how much patients wanted another avenue to address the social and emotional aspects of their lives.
‘‘When I met with patients and family members they wanted to get out of their homes and have something to do with their lives.
‘‘It was November when I started here and they all wanted a Christmas party and then we realised how important social and emotional was.’’
That was how the Tuesday Club came into being and now every Tuesday patients, their caregivers and their families come together to have a cuppa, do an activity and then enjoy a three-course meal.
Kuper said she had countless stories from over the years about how the Tuesday Club had impact patients lives for the better, and it was great to see patients coming together discussing their lives.
‘‘ People do get isolated when they have a life-threatening illness . . . but they can come here and be looked after in a supportive environment.’’
Kuper said the club was also a good opportunity for them to pick up on symptoms they might not get the chance to.
‘‘It gives us an opportunity to pick up on things that might be going on . . . like grief and loss issues.’’
She said working with the hospice had taught her a lot about her own life.
‘‘Working here really makes you see what’s important and what’s not and you’re able to let things go and really take each day as it comes and enjoy what you’re doing.’’
Kuper said she enjoyed the sense of community working with hospice, although at times it could be tough.
‘‘I think the hardest thing about working here is when young people with young families have a lifethreatening illness.’’
Originally a trained nurse Kuper just received her Masters in Health Care she had been working towards for eight years.
She said it had helped her really plan for the future.
‘‘It enabled me to see the bigger picture.’’
‘‘The hospice nurse who visits Turangi in conjunction with the Family Support Team Leader has also recently started up a similar programme for our Turangi patients who find it difficult to travel to Taupo.’’
For more information about either of these programmes please contact Lake Taupo Hospice on 07 377 4252 or pop into Hospice House on Sunset St.