Day Services

 

“I always feel the daycentre is behind me. The team are supportive and always there when I need someone to talk to about anything.” patient quote, 2009

 

St Helena Hospice operates two Day Services Centres, at the Joan Tomkins Centre in Colchester and the Tendring Centre in Clacton, that benefit a large number of people in the surrounding areas.  The Centres are the bases for highly skilled teams offering specialist information, interventions, support and advice to people diagnosed with a life- threatening illness as well as working with their family, friends and carers.

The aim of the team is to work with you and your family to make a plan to enable you to live your life as normally as possible, and to pre-empt any problems that may be approaching.  The support is open-ended and agreed between you and your keyworker, whether they are a nurse, social worker, counsellor or any of the other specialists in the team.  The Day Services teams work alongside their colleagues in the Community and Inpatient Unit to help you make the most of your life at any stage of your condition.

So you may ask, what do patients actually do when they attend our Day Centres? The following are just some of the activities patients enjoy: massage, chiropody, fatigue management, reflexology, manicure, hairdressing, gardening, Jacuzzi, trips out and just talking with friends and colleagues.

Most people who visit our Day Service Centres gain immense support from spending time with others who are living in similar circumstances.  Many people attend on a regular day each week, others on a more flexible basis.

 

“I feel I don’t want to be anywhere but here. I feel safe and attended to and am a different person when I leave at the end of the day ready to face the week ahead.” patient quote, 2009.