Column: What does '˜living well' mean to you?

On returning to our normal daily lives, many people described their feelings of ‘‘cabin fever’’ and this got us at Strathcarron thinking about how illness and loss of independence can create exactly the same feeling.

Our team deal with this every day and constantly look for opportunities for people to ‘‘live well’’. Of course, everyone’s idea of this varies significantly and that’s why we spend so much time with patients and families to find out what a typical days is like for them and what ‘‘living well’’ means to them.

They identify opportunities to help people maintain their independence and stay in control; so it may be about doing small things for themselves (for example, taking part in their personal care) or working towards bigger goals such as returning home after an in-patient stay or planning a meal out with loved ones.

The main focus is to work with patients so that they feel more in control and maintain as much choice and independence as possible.

As a natural extension to what is already being done, Strathcarron Hospice is about to start a piece of work asking people; patients, staff and public, what living well means to them and this will help shape our future services. Hospice care was built on the principle of supporting people to live until they die and we are committed to enabling this to happen.