Services
Complementary Therapies
In St. Francis Hospice, the
complementary therapy team aspires to treat the person and not the disease or symptoms and seeks to restore flow, balance and harmony.
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Who provides Complementary Therapies in St. Francis Hospice?
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Who can avail of Complementary Therapies in St. Francis Hospice?
Who provides Complementary Therapies
in St. Francis Hospice?
We are a team of twelve Complementary Therapists comprising of eleven volunteer therapists and one nurse/Clinical Nurse Specialist in Complementary Therapy co-ordinating the team. In St. Francis Hospice we work very much as part of a multi-disciplinary team. We see our Complementary Therapies as complementary to the other services and as another dimension of care we offer to patients.
The three therapies we offer in St 
Francis Hospice are Massage, Reflexology and Aromatherapy. We also provide Beauty Therapy as we feel that this adds a luxury element to the other services.
The length of time we spend with each patient and the number of treatments they receive is between 20 and 40 minutes per treatment each person receiving a course of 4 treatments over a 4-week period.
As part of our treatment we like to incorporate visualisation techniques as appropriate, thus helping to further bring about a sense of deep relaxation and calm. In the future we hope that in response to an ever-increasing demand by patients to experience more therapies we hope to expand the variety of therapies we have on offer.
What is the purpose of providing Complementary Therapies?
As a team of therapists, our common aim is to create an environment that is welcoming, warm and a safe and relaxing haven for the person receiving treatment to relax and enjoy themselves. We are all aware that touch is essential for our spiritual, emotional and physical well-being. In our holistic approach to care, our main objective as a group of therapists is to have the following in our treatments:
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Presence (i.e. being with or being there for the person in whatever way we can).
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Intention (Intending to be there for the benefit of the person).
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Attitude (Being open and receptive to the person’s needs/expectations for the duration of their session).
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Attention (Tuning in to the person’s individual needs and expectations; allowing them time for themselves.)
Who can avail of Complementary Therapies
in St. Francis Hospice?
At present we are providing our services to the In-Patient Unit, Community Palliative Care, and Hospice Day Care. We hope in the future to extend our service so staff can also avail of treatments.
Is training provided to the volunteer therapists?
All our volunteer therapists are fully certified practitioners. We have regular in-service training for our volunteer therapists, and supervision in view of the fact that we are working in such as specialist area. We are guided by a policy document and guidelines for best practice.
Lymphodema
