April 25th 2017 To mark the Green Ribbon Campaign on mental health awareness for 2017, Tallaght Hospital is organising a public talk entitled “Minding your mind through the ages.” This talk will be given by Professor Greg Swanwick and will be the latest in the Public Health Education Series of presentations, organised throughout the year.
This event is part of Tallaght Hospital’s annual engagement with the Green Ribbon Campaign. The talk will take place in Killinarden Community Centre at 10am on Wednesday, 10 May. In addition to Professor Swanwick, the event is also supported by up to 20 mental health organisations and community groups who will also attend. Among these groups are the An Cosan, Foroige, Tallaght Rehab Project, the National Counselling Service, Counselling in Primary Care, Village Counselling Service, Jigsaw, Pieta House, Mojo and Mojo Men’s Shed, Grow, Tallaght Library, D12 Forum, Stepping In Project, Recovery International, Threshold, Alone, Eve, Mental Health Ireland, Tallaght Travellers, Teencounselling, Nurture Counselling, SDC Sports Partnership and HSE Health & Wellbeing. Age Action Ireland is also supporting the event and will be in attendance. It is hoped that the presence of these organisations will increase the awareness of the services available in the community.
Professor Greg Swanwick specialises in the psychiatry of old age and also has a special interest in dementia and medical education. His talk is part of Tallaght Hospital’s drive to ensure continued excellence in mental healthcare. The Green Ribbon Campaign takes place throughout the month of May and comprises See Change, the National Stigma Reduction Partnership and 90 other partner organisations as part of the month-long series of events to encourage people to start openly talking about mental health problems.
Professor Swanwick said, “Mental health challenges are common across all ages and this is also true for those of an older age. As a result it is so important to know how to mind your mental health and to know when to seek help. I am a big advocate of the Green Ribbon Campaign which does a huge amount every year to raise awareness of the challenges in this area. I am delighted that our event this year is supported by such a large number of local organisations and I hope members of the public come along to find out more about the mind, how to look after it and find out more about mental health and what supports are available.”
David Slevin, CEO of Tallaght Hospital, said; “Our motto at the hospital is ‘People caring for people’ and as a result we are always seeking to ensure that we care for our patients in the best way possible. This is an important subject and I am delighted that the event has received such widespread support. In Tallaght, our population is rapidly growing older and as a result, the health challenges we face are changing all the time. This means that discussing how to look after our mental health as we age has never been more important.” Ends
About Tallaght Hospital
Tallaght Hospital is one of Ireland’s largest acute teaching hospitals, providing child-health, adult, psychiatric and age-related healthcare on one site. The hospital has 495 adult beds and 67 paediatric bed with 2,600 people on staff. The Hospital is a provider of local, regional and national specialities. It is also a national urology centre, the second largest provider of dialysis services in the country and a regional orthopaedic trauma centre.
Tallaght Hospital is one of the two main teaching hospitals of Trinity College Dublin - specialising in the training and professional development of staff in areas such as nursing, health and social care professionals, emergency medicine and surgery, amongst many others. Tallaght Hospital is part of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group which serves a population of over 1.2 million across seven counties.
A new satellite centre is to be built at Tallaght Hospital as part of the National Children’s Hospital project as a key element of an integrated clinical network for paediatric services nationally.
The Hospital’s Emergency Departments catered for 49,512 Adult Attendances and 33,717 Paediatric Attendances in 2016. A further 252,418 patients were treated through the Hospital’s adult and paediatric outpatient clinics in 2016. The Hospital’s operations are supported by 200 general practitioners in surrounding communities.
