When Kilkenny-based teacher Anne Cody won a Vodafone Ireland Foundation World of Difference Award to work with a charity of her choice for one year, back in 2007, few people including Anne, realised the impact of what she was starting.

Now three years on and the CEART PatientWise Programme is helping countless numbers of people living with chronic pain and other long-term conditions to achieve their full potential.

PatientWise is an innovative self-management programme based on the Stanford (California) model, where Anne trained.

"Self-management is about empowering people living with chronic pain and long-term illness, to take control of the way they think and feel about their illness, and how they cope with everyday life," explains Anne.

Helping participants gain the skills necessary to practice positive thinking, problem solving, healthy eating, exercise, communication and forming an achievable action plan, is at the core of self-management, she says.

And while all this might seem like common sense, thinking positively and taking control for our own lives can be difficult even when we don't live with any health challenges.

"We never under-estimate the courage and commitment of people who come to our self-management programmes, because they are coming from such a hard place," says Anne.

An important aspect of the CEART PatientWise Self-Management Programme is that is it completely patient-led, and run by volunteer tutors trained in the Stanford model, and who also live with chronic illness.

"This is incredibly important because when people come to our self-management programmes, they immediately feel a sense of safety, insofar as every other person in the room, including the tutor is living with many of the same problems and issues."

"This isn't about us teaching them. It's more of an invitation to explore new skills in a particular way and look at how each individual can find ways of managing their own illness effectively."

"Everyone who comes to our courses brings their own knowledge, experience and wisdom, and this is a huge resource for everyone else. People who came to learn find themselves helping others. This is a most empowering experience", adds Anne.

Each programme comprises of six weekly, two and a half-hour sessions, in an environment which is sensitive to the needs of people living with illness, participants are asked to do whatever they need to be comfortable e.g. walk around, stretch, take whatever breaks they need.

Each week the group cover a number of different topics, and the structured nature of the programme means they pack a lot into six weeks.

"At the beginning of the course we look at all of the common issues that affect participants and there is usually a big overlap of the same problems, such as immobility, lack of independence, sleeplessness, etc., the participants learn skills to deal with those problems during the programme."

One of the most powerful tools participants explore is how to form an action plan, says Anne .

"At the end of each session we ask everybody to come up with an action plan for something achievable which they can do that week. It has to be something they want to do, not what their doctor or family think they should do. It could be going to the beach, walking to the shops, meeting a friend for coffee, changing the what they eat or introducing more exercise into their day."

"By week six, participants have usually made a number changes which seem small but have had a significant effect on the quality of their lives but more importantly their attitude has changed from believing 'I cant' to 'I am going to try'"

"It's always incredible to hear the feedback we get on the last week. The change in people is just astonishing."

Other important skills explored are managing pain, coping with fatigue, dealing with medication, communication skills, and learning to use strategies such as diet, exercise and stress reduction to manage their illness more effectively.

Ceart PatientWise currently run self-management programmes in the South-East, which are open to anyone living with chronic ill-health both physical and mental health challenges.

PatientWise's parent organisation CEART (a registered charity) is an innovative community based project, located in Callan, Co. Kilkenny, which provides a service of therapy, rehabilitation and health support to patients with long term illness and chronic pain.

Forthcoming PatientWise Self-Management courses:
Clonmel, 9th Sept, every Thursday 10am to 12.30pm for six weeks.
Kilkenny, 9th Sept, every Thursday 10am to 12.30pm for six weeks.
Enniscorthy, 12th November, every Friday 10am to 12.30pm for six weeks.
Carlow and Castlecomer, courses will begin November dates and times to be confirmed.
www.ceartpatientwise.ie or 056- 77 55 757 or
078-9028534