The Castlegar Hospice Society’s virtual reality program is once again receiving interest from abroad; this time it’s the United States.
Executive Director Suzanne Lehbauer was recently invited to attend one of the largest conferences in the US hosted by the Minnesota Network of Hospice and Palliative Care.
“They had seen the information about the project online and were very interested in it. They couldn’t find any hospice in the US that was doing anything similar,” said Lehbauer.
Her presentation received a lot of positive response and she was asked to be a speaker at the National Summit on Advanced Illness Care in October.
“I have a lot to do now with getting back in touch with all of these people and giving them the full outline of how to get the programs up and running and what to look at in terms of how their clients can best utilize it,” she added.
The program uses virtual reality to help those at the end of life see bucket list experiences or simply enjoy their homes and gardens once again. It was one of the first in Canada and the US and it continues to put Castlegar Hospice on the map after its launch in 2017.
“It really is incredible to get that recognition and validation and it does reflect well on our very small hospice society, that incredibly big things can happen from small places,” said Lehbauer.
She says there wasn’t funding in the budget this year to attend to conference but thanks to regional district Areas I and J, and private donations, she was able to go.
The Castlegar Hospice Society provides essential health services for the community and “out of the box thinking” with their programs. To learn more or help with a donation, you can call them at (250) 304-1266.
