Nenagh Hospital family room, funded by the Design & Dignity Grants Scheme.

The Irish Hospice Foundation has announced that applications for the Design & Dignity Grant Round 5 are now open. A partnership between the IHF and the HSE, the Design & Dignity programme turns old and dated hospital spaces into oases of calm where bad news can be broken sensitively or where families can gather in peace and privacy.

The IHF vision is that every hospital in Ireland will have a dignified and comfortable sanctuary to experience the death of a loved one. End-of-life sanctuaries include palliative care suites, family rooms with overnight accommodation, counselling rooms for bereaved families, bereavement suites in emergency department units and family friendly mortuaries.

To date, over 47 Design & Dignity projects across Ireland have been supported.

‘Something Beautiful’ Workshop
For those of you considering a Design & Dignity project, or indeed any project aimed at improving the physical environment within your hospital, you are invited to attend a short workshop on the ‘Something Beautiful’ element of a D&D Project on Thursday 14 July from 1-1.45pm.

The Design & Dignity Guidelines call for a ‘beautiful feature’ to be included as a focal point and emphasise that Design & Dignity projects can lead to places of beauty where the space itself can be considered a work of art.

The careful use of colour, lighting, acoustics, and fabrics and furnishings all contribute to creating inspiring places of beauty that can engage patients and family members in a moment of reflection, providing a means of brief escape.’

This workshop will include presentations from several projects with very different approaches on how to incorporate ‘something beautiful’ in their refurbishments. It is hoped their experiences will be inspirational for those of you setting out on your journey.

The workshop is free to attend but you will need to register here.

Application Process
Information on the application process and the application form can be found at https://hospicefoundation.ie/our-supports-services/healthcare-hub/design-dignity/

Deadline for receipt of applications is 30 September 2022.

If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to present your proposal to the Design & Dignity Project Advisory Group on one of the following dates: 9, 16 or 23 November 2022.

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