Mother of two Veronica Lucas from Firhouse in Dublin was in her thirties when she was in a serious car crash and developed chronic pain in 1990. The accident defined her life for many years. She distinctly remembers grieving the loss of her old daily routine and the decades in which she wasn’t in any way compromised in her physical ability.
Several years after the accident, she had a revealing conversation with her children. Her daughter could remember what she had been like before the accident but her son couldn’t recall a time when Veronica’s daily life didn’t involve physical pain.
In 2002, after attending a pain clinic at Tallaght Hospital, she signed up for the Living Well Stanford self-management course for six weeks.
The course involved learning how to manage living with chronic illness and gave participants strategies on coping with the psychological aspects of living with long-term disease.
Three years later she trained as a leader. She has been running the six-week Stanford self-management programme on a voluntary basis ever since.
The course is supported by the psychology department in Tallaght Hospital. Lay leaders are also given supervision during the year.
Veronica says the course focuses on the day-to-day problems experienced by individuals who are living with different types of chronic disease including chronic pain.
“People living with a chronic disease can experience isolation and depression. They can air their problems here. We teach people about such things as fitness, exercise, relaxation and fatigue. We discuss their medications and equip them with the life skills needed to cope with their condition.”
One of the biggest hurdles individuals with a chronic condition face is accepting that a “miracle cure” isn’t on the cards. Veronica says that patients “go to all lengths to get a cure”.
“It is very hard to accept it.You begin to exclude yourself from life and you can go on a downward spiral. That person you once were is gone. Your self-worth is depleted. It is a very hard change to make. You are used to going out to work and suddenly you are outside of all that. The routine is gone. The course is about taking back your confidence. People have had life-changing experiences on the course.”
The goal of the Stanford programme is to give people confidence as they face in to the harsh reality of having to deal with long-term illness or disability. More than 220 people have gone through the six-week programme in Tallaght since 2006.
Attendees have included individuals with conditions such as heart disease, multiple sclerosis and cancer.
Veronica, who was nominated for a Volunteer Ireland award last year, says that overseeing the course has proved to be hugely enriching to her own life.
“It is a privilege to be in this position. I had given up work – or it had given me up. It is spine-chilling when you see the course being successful for someone. People send us cards saying, ‘Thank you for saving my life’.”
Ideally the course should be part of the primary care package for people with a chronic disease.
“People learn to self-manage. They are communicating more effectively. It reduces dependency on care professionals. It is teaching people life skills.”
Individuals of all ages attend the course but Veronica has found that attendees build up a rapport with minutes of chatting about their experiences.
Friendships often develop outside the course and Veronica encourages groups to meet up for coffee after the six weeks come to an end.
“I would often go for cups of coffee with people who attended the course. I think Tallaght Hospital deserves recognition for all they have done with this programme.
“It is amazing to have 16 people in a room and as each one speaks they are nodding their heads having gone through something similar.
“We teach people to pace themselves in life. It is okay to just go for a walk even if the person next door is doing the marathon. It is about planning, prioritising and pacing yourself.”
* The course is supported by Tallaght Hospital, the HSE Mid Leinster and the Fettercairn Community Health Project. Veronica Lucas can be contacted on 085-2805388 for further information.
