Dublin Minor Football Team Fundraising for ILFA

Would you like to honour your lung fibrosis healthcare hero by nominting them for a special prize?

ILFA is excited to announce the 2021 Denise Cassidy Memorial Prize for excellence in healthcare. This award recognises and celebrates the kindness, compassion and humanity of a hospital healthcare worker to a lung fibrosis patient or their family. Patients and carers are invited to nominate a person who showed you or your loved one a special act of kindness that helped you cope with your illness better.

If ever there was a year to celebrate our healthcare staff – this is it! Please fill out the nomination form that is included with this newsletter or available on the ILFA website and tell us why your healthcare hero deserves to be honoured. You can nominate a doctor, nurse, physiotherapist, social worker, counsellor, dietician, pharmacist, healthcare assistant, member of the chaplaincy team, clerical worker, catering or cleaning staff – in fact anyone who works in healthcare. The more information you can provide, the better as this helps us make the important decision regarding the overall winner. Everyone who is nominated will receive a certificate of excellence and the winner will receive a special commemorative Dublin crystal award.

Denise Cassidy Memorial Prize nomination form 2021

ILFA will host an online support group meeting on Friday 23rd April at 4pm.

We will use Zoom’s breakout rooms for people to meet in small groups and have a friendly chat over a cuppa.

We hope you can join us. Please email info@ilfa.ie to register.

The Irish Lung Fibrosis Association (ILFA)’s “Easter Monday 2000 Steps Extra for ILFA” will take place virtually on Monday 5th April. We want patients, carers, family members, healthcare professionals, industry supporters to exercise and take an extra 2000 steps (approximately 1 mile) more than their regular daily step count to raise awareness of pulmonary fibrosis and raise funds to support ILFA’s work.

You can take part from anywhere – in your garden, indoors from your house and within 5km of your home while following public health guidance. The important goal is to step it out for health!

ILFA has a new set of infographics to help raise awareness of what Idiopathic Pulonary Fibrosis (IPF) is, the signs and symptoms of IPF and the treatment of IPF.

WHAT IS IPF?

Signs and Symptom

Treatment

An online World Café-style workshop with patients, carers, family members, healthcare professionals and industry representatives will take place via Zoom on Saturday 17^th April for approximately 3 hours.

The workshop will allow stakeholders to share ideas on how to address the needs and priorities of the pulmonary fibrosis community. We want to gather this data to help us campaign for a dedicated Clinical Care Programme for Lung Fibrosis. Such programmes exist for other serious health conditions and have dedicated health funding. A structured clinical care programme with a standard model of care is needed to meet the healthcare needs of our patients. It is even more relevant now, as it is anticipated that there may be an increase in the incidence of pulmonary fibrosis from COVID-19 infection.

If you would like to take part in the online ILFA World Café, please register your expression of interest by emailing info@ilfa.ie or calling 086 871 5264.

This event is made possible thanks to funding from the Community Foundation of Ireland and RTE Does Comic Relief.

ILFA is delighted to announce a new online Sing Strong for Pulmonary Fibrosis online class for patients and carers. A 12-week pilot programme will be delivered once a week by Ciara Meade (Choir Mistress) and her colleague Roisin Calahan (physiotherapist) will assist. Classes will start at the end of April and will last approximately 60-70 minutes each.

Research has shown that singing for lung health classes that are delivered by a trained specialist provided valuable psychological and social benefits to people living with respiratory conditions. Some of the benefits include
– improvement breathing control
– better management of breathlessness
– improved posture
– relief of anxiety
– fun, enjoyment and social interaction

You do not need to be a good singer or have singing experience. The classes will take place online and everyone will sing (muted) from the comfort of their home, while training and exercising their breathing muscles under the expert guidance of a choir mistress.

This activity is supported with funding from Air Liquide Healthcare Ireland and BOC Healthcare Ireland. We are enormously grateful for their kind support.

Please contact ILFA on 086 871 5264 or email info@ilfa.ie to register.

ILFA’s Virtual Exercise Class for lung fibrosis patients takes place every Monday and Thursday 11am via Zoom.

The clasess are led by Gordon Cagney (Senior Respiratory Physiotherapist) at University Hospital Limerick and you can join in from the comfort of your home.

Call 086 871 5264 or email info@ilfa.ie to register in advance to join the class.

Physiotherapy students at University Hospital Limerick recorded this exercise video to help patients who want to exercise more regularly between classes.

Click the link for instructions on how to use Zoom to join online meetings and events hosted by ILFA.

Remember to register in advance to join us for our online events and activities.

Call 086 871 5264 or email info@ilfa.ie