The Wellbeing Centre

Our Wellbeing Breathlessness Programme is designed to enable you to manage your breathlessness more effectively. As well as focusing on your breathing (including techniques and strategies to ease breathlessness) it examines how your symptoms can be improved through the way you think, and the way you function. The programme consists of three sessions delivered by a nurse, a physiotherapist and occupational therapist. You can attend in person at the Wellbeing Centre or online. 

Being a carer can be positive and rewarding, but at the same time you need some time for yourself. These sessions provide you with the opportunity to meet with others in a similar situation, gain support and share experiences and advice.

We have face to face sessions with our Wellbeing Team for anyone caring for a loved-one. Our rolling programme of sessions covers:

• Being a Carer, An opportunity to meet other people caring for a loved one and to talk with our experienced staff
• Eating well – you and the person you are caring for, A session about what to expect when preparing meals for the person you care for and look at ways to encourage them to eat as well as possible. Also to ensure you are eating well yourself – we can share some ideas.
• Looking after your physical health – moving and handling people who are unwell, An opportunity to ensure you are looking after yourself physically and learn techniques on moving your loved one without harming yourself.
• Managing your emotions and anxieties, A session looking at relaxation for yourself, and ensuring you make some time to care for your own emotional wellbeing whilst looking after your loved one.
• What to expect as your loved one becomes less well, With our experienced nursing staff, explore what to expect as the person you care for becomes less well. What are the signs you are looking out for, how to help them as they reach the last stages of life.
• Looking ahead, making plans, An opportunity to look at future wishes and how to ensure you have the conversations that will help to cover all the issues relating to end of life arrangements, how to record them and make sure that people who need to know are aware of the documentation.

Read about Chris, one carer who has joined our Wellbeing sessions alongside his partner Sue, and found them to be beneficial.

Complementary Therapies are treatments used alongside regular medical care, and especially helpful in palliative and end of life care. These therapies include massage, aromatherapy, reflexology, and reiki. They are not meant to replace medical treatment, but can help people feel better in other ways, by reducing stress, encouraging relaxation, easing pain, and support emotional wellbeing. Before starting any Complementary Therapy, a Complementary Therapist will talk to the patient about their needs and explain what the therapy involves. Consent is always obtained, and therapies are tailored to each person’s wishes and comfort. The main aim is to support the person’s quality of life and provide comfort, alongside their usual medical care.

Acupuncture
Acupuncture involves using very fine needles that are gently inserted under the skin. This therapy can help with various symptoms including anxiety, hot flushes, pain, (nausea), peripheral neuropathy caused by chemotherapy.

Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy uses essential oils, extracted from plants, to help with relaxation, anxiety, nausea and sleep problems. A blend of essential oils, added to base oil, can be used to give a gentle aromatic massage. A therapist can work with a pre blend or create a bespoke blend. Essential oils can also be used for inhalation with an aroma-stick. This is a plastic nasal inhaler containing oils, which, when gently inhaled, can encourage relaxation and comfort.

Massage
Massage is a treatment that aims to relax and revive the body. Using light touch, hands-on movements and manipulation of soft tissues and muscles in the body. Specific areas of your body can be massaged such as the back neck and shoulders, hands, legs or face. The treatment can be given lying on a massage couch or hospital bed. Massage benefits can include reducing stress and increasing relaxation, reducing pain, muscle soreness and tension.

Reflexology
Reflexology is the application of pressure to specific areas on the feet or hands. These areas are thought to link to different parts of the body. The aim is to help with stress and tension in your body. Several studies indicate that reflexology may reduce pain, stress and anxiety and support relaxation and a restful sleep.

Reiki
Reiki is a complementary therapy relating to energy medicine. It can be received in a lying or sitting position. The therapist places their hands on, or over your body in a series of positions. The aim is to encourage a feeling of wellbeing. Patients most commonly report feeling less stressed and a sense of deep relaxation. Reiki is not offering ‘healing’ for any condition. It is also not based on any spiritual belief.

There is an increasing body of published research that identifies the effectiveness of Reiki in decreasing anxiety, reducing fatigue and increasing the quality of life in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy as well as other factors related to physical and psychological health.

This group is an opportunity to reflect on different aspects of your life, talk about them with others if you wish, and write down whatever you feel is important. Over the weeks you will be able to develop this into a letter, written to yourself but perhaps also for your family and a wider audience, that looks back on your life and what it means to you – what it became, and what it still will be. It is a chance to say both I was there and I am still here, and to find the connection between the two.

Small groups where patients can meet with others in a similar situation. These groups are patient-led, and cover a variety of subjects. Patients can discuss freely what concerns them in a safe environment.

When soothing musical waves connect with the brain waves, the body relaxes. Guided relaxation offers many benefits such as stress reduction, positive thinking. It’s suitable for all ages and is beginner friendly. It’s an effective practice that can be used to help manage symptoms like, pain, fatigue, nausea and sleep disorders.

Living Well 
Week 1 - Welcome & Support at Princess Alice Hospice 
Adapting to change when living with a life limiting illness.  How the Hospice can provide support, guidance, and assistance .

Week 2 - Staying Active 
The benefits of physical exercise, despite limitations. Includes a short armchair exercise session.

Focused Sessions  
Week 3 - Pain Management 
An overview of medications and other strategies to manage pain effectively .

Week 4 - Exploring the Impact of Illness  
Looking at strategies to manage negative emotions, ‘’cutting out the noise’’ to cope with anxiety, and an opportunity to explore what works for you.  (You will have the opportunity to discuss any other symptoms with the nurses )

Planning Ahead 
Week 5 - Benefits & Care Options 
General information on benefits you may be entitled to, and how to access social or nursing care, at home or elsewhere .

Week 6 - Planning Ahead 
Introducing ‘Advanced Care Planning’ documentation, which may help with difficult decisions & discussions about your future .

Week 7 – A  Chance to Reflect  
An opportunity to reflect on how illness might affect your outlook on life and your connections with the world around you .

Mindfulness is a simple approach to paying attention to the present moment. By paying attention to what is happening in the here and now, we can accept our experience as it is, in a non-judgemental way with kindness and compassion. Regular mindfulness practice can help reduce anxiety, stress, and improve health and wellbeing.

Sessions are 30-45 mins and will be seated. No experience necessary. You will be guided through short mindfulness practices in a small group and consider ways to incorporate mindfulness into your daily life.

You can access mindfulness as part of our in person offer or as a standalone online session. 

Music plays an important part in the everyday life of many of us.  Whether it is for recreation, distraction, dancing or to raise our mood, a lot of us enjoy listening to music.

We all know the power of a song or piece of music to trigger vivid memories that seem to transport us back in time. Which songs or pieces of music bring back memories from your life or connect with you emotionally? The songs we love become woven into a tapestry entwined with the people, places and situations we have experienced throughout our lives.

Using a different theme each week, we hope to discover these important songs as well as share them and their significance in a small group via Zoom, streaming the songs through Spotify.

Once taking part, the hope is that you will be able build up a bank or playlist of songs that have real meaning and provide a soundtrack to your life which you can continue to add to after the group has finished.

Sessions with a member of the clinical team, giving you the opportunity to discuss any worries or ask any questions, which are more personal.

This is a seated exercise session led by our physiotherapists. The aim of the group is to maintain movement and function of your muscles so that you can continue with the everyday activities.

This is a chair-based yoga group, that will include movement, yogic breathing and meditation using a variety of techniques to help the mind to settle. This session with gentle poses will help you to reduce your anxiety. Yoga can be practiced at any age and can be performed almost anywhere. The aim is to relieve you from symptoms, pain, physical difficulties, mental stress of illness, and improved quality of life.