Integrated Wellness

“Walking Group offers excellent opportunities to meet and share experiences from a commonly shared situation. Excellent opportunity for emotional support; and physical activity!”

-Bereavement Walking Group client 2018

Our Bereavement Walking Group is available weekly, located at the Royal Distributing Athletic Performance Centre (RDAPC). This group is facilitated by a Regulated Health Professional who guides clients through warm-up exercises, followed by outdoor or indoor walking, and closes with gentle stretching.

This group aims to provide a gentle encounter with grief processing. Clients are invited to connect with others in a peer support model or are welcome to listen without sharing.

“Stretching and relaxation is so important for healing and feeling better. Teaches us how to relax with breathing exercises if we feel stressed. I use the breathing exercises every day and feel a benefit for sure.”

-Gentle Yoga client, 2018

Our Gentle Yoga Program is open to all levels of physical ability, and participation can be modified to suit your needs by using a chair. Our volunteer yoga teacher (RYT 500) has designed this class to offer gentle, low impact yoga practices, meaning individuals who feel they cannot participate in traditional yoga, may find this approach beneficial.

This program is available weekly to community hospice clients seeking support for a progressive life-limiting illness, their caregivers, and those seeking grief support. Families and caregivers with loved ones in our residential hospice are also welcome to attend.

“Massage helped me physically manage my chronic knee pain, and emotionally to purposefully taking quiet time for myself. The students maintained my dignity and had excellent communication skills. They were compassionate and gave helpful advice to help me heal. Thank you!”

-Massage Program client, 2017

Our Massage Program is made available through partnership with the Canadian College of Massage & Hydrotherapy (CCMH) Cambridge Campus. Massage treatments are provided by students in their second year of study and supervised by a Registered Massage Therapist (RMT), and College Instructor.

This community and residential program is available by appointment to our residents, families and caregivers, as well as community clients seeking support for progressive life-limiting illness, their caregivers, and those seeking grief support.

924 massage sessions were provided to residential and community clients of Hospice Wellington from April 2019 to March 2020.

Therapeutic Touch® has been integrated in our core programming since our organization’s inception in 1980. Our volunteers offer this service to our residential floor on a daily basis to support residents, along with their families and caregivers. Hospice Wellington volunteers also graciously extend this service to palliative clients in their home, as well as the Chemotherapy Clinics of Guelph General Hospital, and Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus.

This evidence-based modality can be practiced with or without physical contact, and has been shown to reduce pain, anxiety, and stress by facilitating the body’s natural healing process.

1,588 Therapeutic Touch ® sessions were provided by Hospice Wellington volunteers from April 2019 to March 2020.

“Reiki is a safe, gentle, and profoundly relaxing healing modality that can be practiced by anyone who has received an “attunement” from a Reiki master. This review has found reasonably strong evidence for Reiki being more effective than placebo, suggesting that Reiki attunement leads to a quantifiable increase in healing ability.”

-Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine

Reiki is a form of energy healing that facilitates the body’s natural healing process by promoting a sense of relaxation and well-being. This community program is available by appointment to clients seeking support for progressive life-limiting illness, their caregivers, and those seeking grief support.

Treatments are non-invasive, with or without direct physical contact provided by a trained Hospice Wellington volunteer Reiki Master.

Our talented Hospice Wellington volunteers regularly support to our Palliative Day Program clients, through either the playing of music, or offering a sing-along. This program also regularly supports our residents and their families by offer music in the common areas of our residence, and in individual resident rooms. Our volunteers currently offer music through the playing of guitar with singing, the piano, and most recently a spirit drum.