Today we learned about Social Prescribing for Health and Wellbeing at Ionad Naomh Pádraig. This program helps to link the people of Donegal to sources of support in the community which include: physical activity, arts & creativity, learning new skills, self help, books for health, green prescriptions, and support groups. This proactive approach uses non-medicinal ways to improve health and wellbeing. We had an awesome lunch at the community center.
Learning some common phrases in Irish was educational and very useful. We were able to introduce ourselves, say thank you, and order drinks in a pub. We shopped at the local craft store, and maybe, spent a little too much money.
We ate dinner with our host families and then headed back to the community center for the Women’s Shed. There were many women who attended the classes that we had prepared. The classes were: impaired driving education utilizing impairment simulation goggles, health related apps, foot/vascular/ankle/brachial index screening, oral exam and oral cancer screenings, fall risk STEADi, transferring/recovery/bed mobility/caregiver class, blood pressures, glucose screenings, exercising, and yoga. We received a lot of positive feedback from the participants. All our hard work paid off.
Our day ended with an awesome session of traditional Irish music played by locals.
