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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ar ch 3, 20 22 | 4 At Village Orthodontics in Oakville, we specialize in beautiful smiles using clear aligners and traditional braces. New Patients Welcome Schedule your complimentary consultation today! 647-496-1424 2-2983 Westoak Trails Blvd. Oakville villageortho.ca Book your Personalized Smile Consultation today gression of the disease." When Wellspring's doors were shuttered in March 2020, its programs quickly switched to virtu- al. The move not only al- lowed clients to resume their sessions but made ac- cessibility to programming possible for people well be- yond Halton's borders, across the country, in fact, those in communities and provinces without a Well- spring. The result was a wealth of new types of members. "Caregivers have been able to participate more than ever before because they're able to participate from the comfort of their homes, and they don't have to leave their loved one," said Susy Borges Santos, Wellspring's associate di- rector of program delivery. "We've also found we've been able to support people later in their disease, those who pre-pandemic have been too ill or too tired to travel to Wellspring, said Borges Santos. "Now, with the virtual platform, people can par- ticipate in the comfort of their beds and reduce the fatigue in commuting to a centre. They're able to par- ticipate in a really safe and comfortable manner now. It's wonderful to be able to support people with later stage advanced palliative or metastatic cancers." The virtual setting pro- vided an open forum for communication to help re- duce the sense of isolation and a place where people felt they could connect with other patients going through the same thing, creating a sense of commu- nity, said Borges Santos. She said there had been more than 50,000 visits to Wellspring's programs na- tionally since the switch to virtual. "We've been able to ex- pand our capacity tremen- dously with online pro- gramming," said Borges Santos, adding that many of Wellspring's educational webinars are recorded so they can be viewed at any time of the day. "I think we were quite taken aback ourselves of the popularity and just how willing people were able to shift and really gravitate to the online com- munity." People may miss con- gregating in the kitchen for a cup of tea, but "on the flip side, we've been pleasantly surprised to hear all the feedback about how the virtual support really does feel as good as that in-per- son support," said Shiller. Virtual support comes in the form of emojis or through the chat function, said Shiller. "People have used the expression that they feel like they're receiving a vir- tual hug," she added. "I think we're going to keep the hybrid model because of the success and accessi- bility of a virtual platform." It's been amazing to see how comfortable people are to share very intimate things about their diagno- sis onscreen in the comfort of their home, added Bor- ges Santos. "Now we have the best of both worlds, people that never were able to partici- pate, can; people that were just too sick to come de- spite being very close to the centre, can." Wellspring offers more than 40 unique programs targeting emotional, prac- tical and physical function needs. Some of the more popular programs over the past two years have been the support groups and the Healing Journey, which helps people deal with can- cer-related stress, provid- ing psychological and spiri- tual tools to promote inner harmony, peace and heal- ing, said Shiller. Relaxation and Visual- ization allows clients to learn to quiet the mind, she added. There has also been "incredible demand" for Money Matters. Wellspring is hoping to open its doors again some- time this spring. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With the pandemic continuing to make things even more difficult for those living with cancer, we wanted to explore how Halton's Wellspring has adapted to keep offering an emotional lifeline. NEWS Continued from page 3 WEBINARS AMONG SUPPORTS HELPING CANCER PATIENTS "People have used the expression that they feel like they're receiving a virtual hug." - Ilene Shiller, Wellspring social worker SCAN THIS CODE for more local news. Let's get out of it! Stuck with your car lease?