Let’s look back at what we got up to here at Highfield Healthcare during the month of February.

 

Kildare FM

Dr Miriam Kennedy took to the airwaves once more, joining Ciara Plunkett the Kildare Focus show on Kfm Radio Kildare on the 5th of February. The pair spoke about the power in talking about mental illness and finding the language to communicate through difficult times.

In another captivating conversation, Dr Miriam drew on the words of the late poet Seamus Heaney, to explain the power in talking about mental illness and finding the language needed to help break through mental health issues.

You can listen back to their discussion on the Kildare FM Soundlcloud.

Valentine’s Surprise

In the lead up to Valentines Day, the pupils of Holy Child Boys’ National School in Whitehall, have used their art classes to work on a special project. The idea came from a teacher within the school, who also happens to volunteer her time here at Highfield Healthcare.

Getting to know the residents across our Care Of The Elderly services, she decided to get her pupils involved in a special project to add a little extra joy to their day, on the 14th of February. The colourful creations were made especially for the elderly residents of Highfield Healthcare, to spread a little love on the 14th of February.

 World Thinking Day

Snow in Spring

Like much of the country, Highfield Healthcare was visited by the Beast From The East and Storm Emma in late February.

Their stay lasted into the first days of March of course, and being located in the red warning zone are grounds were transformed by a thick blanket of springtime snow.

Thanks to our amazing staff and the provisions made by management the majority of our services were able to continue uninterrupted.

Highfield Healthcare’s CEO shared the following message in thanks to the staff after five days of extraordinary circumstances;

“ I really felt we came together as colleagues and friends and went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure we had a safe place for all under our care.

My residing thought coming out of the last few days is that we have wonderful individuals working in Highfield and it was amazing how everyone pulled together

with a common goal, as our mission statement reads, in the care of friends.”

 

 

 

For the past few weeks the pupils of Holy Child Boys’ National School in Whitehall, have used their art classes to work on some very special Valentine’s Day cards. These colourful creations were made especially for the elderly residents of Highfield Healthcare, to spread a little love this St. Valentine’s Day.

The idea came from a teacher within the school, who also happens to volunteer her time here at Highfield Healthcare. Getting to know the residents across our Care Of The Elderly services, she decided to get her pupils involved in a special project to add a little extra joy to their day, this 14th of February.

It’s safe to say that our residents were absolutely delighted to receive the thoughtful messages from the boys, when they were delivered. A big thank you to the boys!

  

 

Let’s take a little look back at what happened here at Highfield Healthcare in the first 31 days of 2018.

Tasty Toasties

This month we introduced a delicious selection of toasted sandwiches to the menu at our Cafe.

Choose from fillings like ham, chicken, tuna, onion, stuffing and sweetcorn, on either brown or white sliced bread for one of our Tasty Toasties – €2.60.

Or maybe you would like something a little special, like one of our Gourmet Toasted Sandwiches – €3.00. You can choose from any of the filling options on tempting sourdough, rye or corn bread, and perhaps add some Ballymaloe relish or basil pesto.

Blue Monday

Highfield Healthcare’s Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Miriam Kennedy joined Pat Kenny on his Newstalk morning morning show to discuss the controversial topic.

‘Blue Monday’ is a term first coined by a British travel company in 2005. Since then the third Monday of every January has been labelled as the most depressing day of the year.

The idea was invented as a marketing ploy to encourage people to book holidays, as a way to escape the January blues – but there is no science to back it up.

Listen back to Pat and Dr Miriam now…

Winnie The Pooh Day

Did you know that the 18th of January each year is dedicated to celebrating the fictional character Winnie the Pooh?

Falling on the birthday of  author A.A. Milne, the imaginary teddy bear’s creator, #WinnieThePoohDay is the perfect opportunity to relive the childhood classic.

There are a lot of wonderful messages throughout Milne’s stories of Pooh and friends, like the one below.

 

And that was January!

 

‘Blue Monday’ is a term first coined by a British travel company in 2005. Since then the third Monday of every January has been labelled as the most depressing day of the year.

The idea was invented as a marketing ploy to encourage people to book holidays, as a way to escape the January blues – but there is no science to back it up.

“What is important, is not to trivialize depression.”

Highfield Healthcare’s Consultant Psychiatrist Miriam Kennedy joined Pat Kenny on his Newstalk programme on the Monday 15th of January; 2018’s ‘Blue Monday’.

Listen back to their discussion of the ‘Blue Monday’ myth, mental illness in Ireland and the importance of looking after your mental health.

If you would like to learn more about Highfield Healthcare’s supports for those dealing with mental illness, below you will find a video explaining our newest Day Hospital service.

One of the great things about the campus here at Highfield Healthcare are the beautiful grounds. You might be surprised to hear that the wonderfully tended flora surrounding our building are in use for Forest Therapy with some of our service-users.

Forest Therapy falls under the umbrella of Ecotherapy, which is an evidence based intervention in mental health; the practice of spending time in forested areas to enhance health, wellness, and happiness.

Continue reading “Forest Therapy at Highfield Healthcare” →

            

The volunteers here at Highfield Healthcare make such a difference to the residents they interact with and their input complements the work of our staff so well.

Here’s a look at a few of the things our volunteers have been getting up to recently… Continue reading “Our Volunteers” →

As proud members of the Nursing Homes Ireland community, Highfield Healthcare was delighted to celebrate National Nursing Homes Week from the 29th May to the 5th June 2017.

It was a week full to the brim with events and activities for residents, family members and Highfield Healthcare staff alike.

A huge thank you goes out to all those who helped to organise and participated in a joyful seven days promoting and celebrating happy and healthy nursing home life.

We hope you enjoy looking back on the events of the week in the photographs below.

Continue reading “Nursing Homes Week 2017” →

Here at Highfield Healthcare we were delighted to get involved with the month long national Green Ribbon Campaign to get people talking openly about mental health problems in May 2017. As providers of acute and specialist mental health in Dublin since 1825, we fully support the mission to end the stigma that remains around mental health issues in Ireland.

 

Our launch was held on the 19^th of May, National #TimeToTalk day, where our Clinical Director Andrew Eustace spoke of the ways we can all improve and maintain our mental health. Dr. Andrew emphasized the importance of relationships with friends and keeping physically active in tackling life’s daily stresses.

 

Continue reading “Green Ribbon Campaign 2017 #TimeToTalk” →

Yesterday Highfield Healthcare’s very own Dr Miriam Kennedy was a guest of Near FM‘s Lifeline.  As part of mental health awareness month, Dr Miriam was live on air to promote the Green Ribbon Twitter Q&A she will be participating in tomorrow evening alongside Dr Jennifer Hoblyn.

Listen back to the segment by clicking here.

Twitter Q&A With Psychiatrists 

At 7pm on the 31st of May, the two consultant psychiatrists are taking over the @GreenRibbonIRL twitter account to engage with people about mental health recovery and psychiatry. To get involved all you need to do is tweet using the hashtag #AskPsych.

Taking place on the very last day of Green Ribbon Month 2017, it is more important than ever to encourage the national conversation around mental health, so if you have any questions you would like answered now don’t hesitate to join in.

 

 

Dr Kennedy kindly spoke on the Kildare FM radio show, “Kildare Focus”, in February. Dr Kennedy discussed the topic of Depression helping raise awareness about depression and what it is.