USEFUL WEBSITES
There are sometimes no hyperlinks on our pages. Please copy and past the name (URL) of the required site in your favourite browser.
THE FIRST SITE HAS EARNED ITS TOP POSITION FOR ITS COMPREHENSIVE COVER OF THINGS YOU MAY NEED TO KNOW. SCROLL DOWN FURTHER FOR SITES DIRECTLY RELATED TO PALLIATIVE CARE.
This site will offers a very wide range of information about how to get things done and how to enjoy yourself on Costa Blanca. You’ll find a section about CARING TOGETHER if you visit there and go to CLUBS & SOCIETIES. Strongly recommended.
http://www.eurocaremobility.com. www.dismovil.net
Two sites to visit if you need to hire or buy mobility aids in and around Benidorm ! If neither can help, for any reason, ring Caring Together
http://www.iahpc.com
This is the important website of the international association for hospice and palliative care of which the president of Caring Together is an associate member.
On this site, please read the declaration of Venice
of May 2006. It is the report of IAHPC on the development of palliative and hospice care in the third world and developing countries.
We invite you to decide, in the light of this report whether you think Spain is “developing” palliative care in appropriate ways!
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/
This site heads the list because it may be of great value to english readers who are concerned about a health problem. Some parts of it are not available to email addresses outside UK. If there is something you want to receive and cannot, you might be able to get a UK friend to copy and paste to you. If not, let us know on info@caringspain.com and we will try on your behalf.
http://www.secpal.com
Site of the Sociedad Española de Cuidados Paliativos. With some 5000 professional members including doctors, nurses, social workers and psychologists, it is informative and influential in our own chosen field of work, which is END-OF-LIFE CARE.
It lists Spanish Health Service hospitals which offer palliative care, giving contact with the carers in each case.
There is also information about training courses, from auxiliary workers right up to 3-year postgraduate courses, for professionals who wish to specialise in palliative end-of-life care.
The president of CARING TOGETHER is a Secpal member.
http://www.eapcnet.org
This is the site of the EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR PALLIATIVE CARE, a non-government organization recognised by the Council of Europe. It is packed with useful reference material and contacts.
For professionals, the 50 € annual membership of the Association seems reasonable and is recommended. Secpal is a corporate member.
www.cuidadospaliativos.org .
El sitio de web de la Sociedad Latinamericano de cuidados paliativos.
www.care4youinspain.com. Worth a visit. Choose Spanish or English on the Home Page. It is the site of the company Care4youinSpain which offers a wide range of domiciliary care services, including palliative care, in the zone from Gran Alacant (Alicante) to Mazarron (Region of Murcia). It is good to know they are there!
www.hospiceoftheheart.org (not linked: pl paste & copy to your browser)
This newly-published site invites you to open your heart to both living and dying. We’ve asked the publisher for more info. For truly positive thinking in a United Kingdom environment it will be hard to beat. 02/08/07
www.BellaOnline.com This site is about GRIEF AND GRIEVING. It is inter active - you can write about your grief to Bella and her associates. Talking/writing really does help. Try them! You may also receive their monthly newsletter on request, using www.BellaOnline.com
www.bellaonline.com/articles/art50803.asp/zzzCoping with grief can be overwhelming. There is no right way to cope with grief. Here you will find some suggestions for coping and living with the initial stages of grief and mourning.
Death of a Child
Child death is a social taboo. The death of a child is so unthinkable that most people just push it away, often adding a physical movement or soft spoken prayer to further block and protect them from the horror of child death. Go to www.bellaonline.com/articles/art50705.asp/zzz
Bereavement.bellaonline.com Please visit here for even more great content about Bereavement.
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http://www.costablanca-anglicanchaplaincy.org
This site offers you direct contact with the Anglican Church on Costa Blanca and throughout Europe. It will put you in touch with fellow Anglicans and bring the services of the Church to you in hospital, nursing home or your own home if you so wish. The Chaplaincy provides many opportunities for worship and service in the community.
http://www.fco.gov.uk
This gives the UK Foreign Office advice
on coming to Spain. Well worth careful study.
From this site you may request a daily email of news from the BBC. Their health section often carries useful articles in English about palliative care.
http://www.cbfriday.com
Site of a newspaper published Fridays at 1,50 € which is giving us helpful sponsorship (see SPONSORS).
http://www.coastrider.net
COASTRIDER, issued on Tuesdays, is a freebie with strong coverage of Torrevieja and Costa Blanca South. Going strongly after just over a couple of years. (see SPONSORS).
http://www.roundtownnews.com
This site gives you news in English about life as the British are enjoying it along large stretches of Spanish coast.
http://www.vh.org
This is, in effect an online Medical Dictionary published by the University of Iowa. Many useful links, too.
We learned (Aug 2006) that the site is no longer operating owing to lack of funding. But much of its pre-2006 material is still accessible by following a few extra links.
http://www.mainzspain.com
Here is expertise for English speakers who have no Spanish and want to know HOW TO… in Spain. Telephone service 24/7 for a small annual sub. Worth visiting.
http://www.milliemunro.com
Millie sells pre-paid funeral plans which, as she says, “Help to take the headache out of the heartache” !
She also sells other types of insurance.
http://www.healthplanplus.com
Here is a top British insurance broker who is able to advise on - and sell you - a wide range of health Insurance plans, including Sanitas (which is owned by BUPA) and and many others. Listed there are the top awards for excellent service that have been won by Director Sue Colley, of West Country Health Care. Well worth a look before you buy private health insurance. Please mention CARING TOGETHER when you first contact Sue !
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http://www.rowantreefoundation.org
For those mourning the loss of a child…
This site should be helpful if you know someone has the ill fortune to be helping other children to cope with the loss of a brother or sister. There is helpful material about miscarriages, too.
Friends and associates of grieving parents may find the section five things not to say has something to offer them, too.
legacypromotionscampaign.org.uk. (not linked: pl copy & paste to browser) This site tries to convince English speakers of the social benefit they may create by making a legacy to a charity. Â Naturally we hope that one of your legacies will be to CARING TOGETHER ! Please contact us at info@caringspain.com to obtain the details about us that your solicitor will require. Thanks a lot !
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Want your site to feature here? want more information? (eg. about job opportunities if you are suitably qualified) or want to share your views with us? We’ll welcome your message!
Drop us a line on info@caringspain.com
*Please remember: The end of life is important to those who are experiencing it, and to those who are close to them.*
In the words of the late Dame Cicely Saunders, one of the founders of the Hospice Movement, modern palliative care can help patients with incurable diseases to “LIVE until they die”
Without people like her, the majority of these websites might never have been created.
Your kind support for palliative care in Spain will be very much appreciated. There is just so much to be done !
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www.epgpatientdirect.org
This site concentrates on providing information about many of the non-cancerous diseases which might ruin your quality of life.
We found it on 29 Oct 08 and think it well worth a visit. But don’t frighten yourself to death !!
http://www.cicelysaundersfoundation.org/index.php/links
FOR ENGLISH READERS CONTEMPLATING A CAREER IN THE HOSPICE MOVEMENT, WHETHER IN HOSPICES THEMSELVES OR IN PEOPLE’S OWN HOMES (A PRACTISE MOST PATIENTS PREFER AND WHICH IS SHOWING CONSIDERABLE GROWTH) we suggest you visit the above site, for a start,
The palliative care sites listed above publicise the work of organizations which are concerned with ALL TYPES of incurable disease.
LAST, NOT LEAST:
SPANISH MINISTRY OF HEALTH——STRATEGIES
www.msc.es/estrategiassns
www.cuidadospaliativos.org
www.ConnectingForCare.co.uk THIS SITE PROVIDES A FORUM FOR ALL ENGLISH-SPEAKING CARERS. IT IS AVAILABLE TO LONG-TERM CARERS IN ADDITION TO END-OF-LIFE CARERS. FIND MORE FROM THEM ON OUR VISITORS’ PAGE
ConnectingForCare.co.uk is a website dedicated to connecting all carers – both professional and unpaid carers – within the UK providing a forum so they may find support, share stories and exchange information with one another in a private or public forum.
www.hospicecare.com Well worth your visiting time !
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As an addendum we now mention some organizations which are dedicated exclusively to CANCER.
In Andalucia, Spain, there is FUNDACIÓN CUDECA
What is Cudeca?
Cudeca is a charitable organisation whose aim is to give special hospice care, free of charge, to patients suffering from terminal cancer, with support to their family before and after the loss of their loved one.
At the same time it is committed to the further study and awareness of palliative care, maintaining a close relationship with the modern international Hospice movement.
The Foundation is a Non-Governmental Organisation, (ONG in Spanish) It has developed its own funding, based on the generous support received from the community, the work of volunteers who run the 11 charity shops, plus many fundraising events.
The Hospice Centre is in Arroyo de la Miel, Málaga, and is the first independent hospice in Spain. It consists of a 15 bed In-patient Unit, Day Care Centre, Out-patient consultation service, training area, together with medical and administration service departments.
P.S. Before you become a VOLUNTEER, read the excellent page on this site. Highly recommended.
http://www.todocancer.org
The site of the Asociación Española Contra el Cancer is also well worth visiting. This excellent organization is funding hospital-based palliative care in many parts of Spain. We applaud them.
other sites:-
We’ve come across a very nice lady called Saron Kaye who co-ordinates a cancer buddy website. Find it at www.cancerbuddiesnetwork.org if you need to speak with her she can be contacted on 965838550. Cancer Buddies Network is an online support group designed to put you in ouch with your cancer buddy so you can share the ups and downs, laughter and tears with someone who knows how it feels. Whether you have experienced
cancer yourself, or you are family, friend or carer, visit this site and search for a cancer buddy
http://cancergiggles.blog-city.com/awol_1.htm
This site may be of great personal help to anyone whose terminal illness is protracted. Journalist Cass Brown describes his experiences and his attitudes to the whole long-drawn out illness. Sadly, he died early in 2007. His legacy is lasting and we hope his book and his blog will help many thousands of people in years to come.
CASS felt he must keep everyone surrounding him as happy as possible from the time his cancer was diagnosed. There’s a lot of very positive thinking here!
http://www.cancersupportgroup.webs.com/ This site introduces you to a very valuable support service if you have been diagnosed with cancer and need friendly & understanding support - or just to chat about your illness. Plenty of numbers to call in Alicante & Murcia.
http://www.hhs.gov
United States Department of Health and Human Services… it will link you to all sorts of other sites to stimulate the weary medical mind !
MORE VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs) in Spain:
“HELP” of Denia and Marina Alta
Provides many kinds of help for short term medical care in the Denia and surrounding area from Pego to Calpe.
For further information please, either:
Visit our web site at www.helpofdenia.com
E-mail to help.denia@gmail.com
Telephone our HELP Centre in La Xara between 10am and 2pm Monday to Friday on 96-642-7044 or leave a message on the answer phone at any other time.
henry on May 4th 2007