Page 13 - TOH_Impact Report 2022-2023

MAKING A DIFFERENCE TOGETHER
SUPPORTING PATIENTS AND WHANAU
Our Family Support team provides emotional, spiritual, cultural, functional, and social support to people with a terminal or life-limiting illness and their whānau. The team supports patients, and their whānau through a diverse range of services including art, music, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, counselling, social work, spiritual care, whānau support, bereavement care and biographies.
During the year, the team has embraced the ability to reconnect with our communities face-to-face. Remembrance Services have moved back to the Hospice, inviting whānau and friends to remember loved ones who have died under the Hospice’s care throughout the year. In total, 100 people attended the two services.
Strong working collaborations within the team continue to provide support for those receiving
our services, ensuring a coordinated and timely response. In practice this has seen our Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist carrying out joint home visits, our Social Worker and Nurses visiting patients together, our Spiritual Care Coordinator and Māori Liaison collaborating for rituals requested in the Inpatient Unit, and our Art Therapist and Music Therapist co-working with patients and families.
The Family Support team hosted the regional Psychosocial Cancer Support Network in July 2022. This gave an opportunity to discuss how we can make sure people needing psychosocial support have access to services at the point they need them. We also connected with colleagues from hospices across the country, hosting a number at
Te Omanga Hospice. Making such connections and sharing knowledge with other hospices and services enhances the care we provide to those in
our Hutt Valley community.
Family Support has also been taking opportunities to increase knowledge of Māori Tikanga, increase understanding of Te Ao Māori and Te Reo, build whakawhanaungatanga (collaborative relationships) with patients, whānau and community partners, and explore ways to provide a welcoming and inclusive Family Support service. In addition, the Family Support Manager and Māori Liaison have been reviewing cultural support services over the last year and are consulting with Māori Health and
Mana Whenua partners.
Along with providing services to patients, families and their whānau, our team continued to contribute to the education programme at Te Omanga Hospice and a number of community events.
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