[dropcap type =”circle”]T[/dropcap]he Hummingbird Centre in Launton, which supports people and families affected by cancer, has been accredited by Macmillan and Coventry University to run a course to help people cope better with the illness.
The 6-week HOPE licensed programme is free to attend, and focuses on self-management and helps people to rediscover their inner strengths and resilience – enabling them to more effectively manage their lives with and beyond cancer.
HOPE self-management courses are for all cancer types and recognises the commonality of unmet psychological and emotional needs, fear of recurrence, reduced confidence, physical needs, fatigue and need for physical exercise, and social needs such as social isolation.
H.O.P.E stands for Help Overcoming Problems Effectively. It is a licensed programme that helps people who have had cancer to get on with their lives. These Macmillan courses are free to attend and run by trained HOPE facilitators who are either health or social care professionals and also volunteers who have had a cancer experience.
There are between 6 to 12 people on each course and time is spent in facilitated discussions, group activities, information sharing and ideas for particpants to try between each session.
Those living with and beyond cancer face a number of challenges following primary treatment and can feel lost and abandoned during transition from patient to survivor. Many struggle with the consequences of treatment that could be avoided or self- managed such as fatigue, fear of recurrence and depression. The risks of depression in patients with cancer is two to three times higher than the general population.
The course will run every Monday from 18 September to 23 October between 10.00am-12.30pm, or evening sessions from 6.30pm – 9pm, at The Hummingbird Centre, Grange Court Yard, Station Road, Launton, OX26 5DX
For further information or to book a place please call the Hummingbird Centre on 01869-244244
