The Natural Heart / An Chroí Nádúrtha

The Natural Heart / An Chroí Nádúrtha is a workshop developed and facilitated by Cabrini Cahill, a staff nurse in a residential nursing home and a theatre practitioner. Presented using storytelling and theatrical props, The Natural Heart is for carers, nurses, care assistants, physiotherapists, doctors and management in care settings to promote self-care and wellbeing for staff. The pilot programme will involve staff from five care settings. 

The workshop aims to empower staff to experience their unique capacity to feel, think and act from a proactive sensibility of self-respecting care and compassion for the benefit of all. The workshop was originally developed for young people at the I-Mind Conference as part of Mental Health Week in County Laois with a children’s trail version at Electric Picnic (2013) and a storytelling version at the Scarecrow Festival (2014). Returning to part-time nursing following a 20-year gap inspired Cabrini to redevelop The Natural Heart for staff in care settings.

Cabrini will present on The Natural Heart as part of a flash session at the Health Humanities & Arts in Health International Symposium, taking place in the University of Derby‌ from 27-28 November 2017.

Cabrini Cahill is a Registered General Nurse (RGN) based in Laois and works part-time as a staff nurse in a residential nursing home. A graduate of the Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College Dublin, Cabrini has worked for 27 years as a theatre-maker and facilitator.

For further information on The Natural Heart contact Cabrini Cahill:
cabrini2@gmail.com