Palliative Care week takes place in two weeks time, and the theme this year this year is ‘You, Me and Palliative Care’.
One of the centrepieces of the week in Donegal will be a collaboration between Donegal Hospice and Coláiste Ailigh in Letterkenny.
Art students will paint a series of pictures exploring the theme, and they will go on display at ATU Letterkenny.
Catherine Regan, Director of Nursing at Donegal Hospice says the aim of the collaboration was to dispel the myth of palliative care and get the student’s perception on what palliative care means to them.Each piece of art is unique to the individual artist; it encompasses their own thoughts and feelings around palliative care.
Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh from Altan will officially launch the exhibition at the Co-Lab at the ATU campus on Friday September 13th.
The HSE says Palliative Care Week is an opportunity for people to talk to family and friends about what their understanding of palliative care is. There are many misconceptions about palliative care such as it is only about end of life care, but Catherine Regan says palliative care is about supporting and enabling people to live through their life limiting illness.
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Donegal Hospice to host “You, Me and Palliative Care” Art Exhibition
The theme for Palliative Care week this year is You, Me and Palliative Care.
In keeping with that theme, Donegal Hospice and Coláiste Ailigh will host a “You, Me and Palliative Care” art exhibition at ATU Letterkenny.
Without even knowing what the theme was going to be, Catherine Regan, Director of Nursing, Donegal Hospice and Dr Jessica Sui, Consultant in Palliative Care, had agreed that for this year they wanted to look at something different that included the community for Palliative care week.
The joint collaboration was easy as the hospice gardens flow down to meet the school and many collaborations have been had in the past with the music students performing for patients in the hospice and employees in Coláiste Ailigh volunteer in Donegal Hospice.
By February 2024 plans were well underway and the hospice met with Art teacher Ann Marie NíChanainn and her students to discuss an art exhibition revolving around palliative care.
Dr Sui and Catherine Regan with the help of Christina French, Irish Speaking Champion for the Hospice, gave a brief information session to the students and their Art Teacher Annemarie about what palliative care is, when the hospice gets involved and what they hope to achieve from the exhibition.
Catherine Regan, Director of Nursing at Donegal Hospice said “The aim was to dispel the myth of palliative care and get the student’s perception on what palliative care means to them. This project would allow them to have an individual response to the theme where they will have an opportunity to express their feelings and thoughts.”
Ann Marie NíChanainn, Art Teacher at Coláiste Ailigh said “the project’s nature was very close to the core values and ethos of the ETB which are Respect, Care & Community and indeed very well aligned with some of Donegal Hospice’s own core values being – Respect, Quality, and Partnership. We are very excited that this has allowed the school and the hospice to work together and that this will display the student’s artistic creativity in this way, and for this special week.”
Each piece of art is unique to the individual artist; it encompasses their own thoughts and feelings around palliative care.
Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh from Altan will officially launch the exhibition which runs from 10am to 4pm, on Friday September 13th 2024 at Co Lab, ATU, Port Road, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, F92 C5XK.
Palliative Care Week is an opportunity for you to talk to your family and friends about what your understanding of palliative care is. There are many misconceptions about palliative care such as it is only about end of life care however palliative care is about supporting and enabling people to live through their life limiting illness. Providing palliative care is the responsibility of all healthcare professionals however over the course of someone’s illness they may require referral to the specialist palliative care services, known by many as the hospice service.
