Look Good…Feel Better is a charity of the cosmetics industry in Ireland, which was established as part of an international movement that began in the US in 1989. Administered by the Patient Support Services Department of the Irish Cancer Society, it aims to assist patients in dealing with the appearance-related side effects of their cancer treatment.
Groups of twelve participants at a time are invited to attend an informal beauty workshop in the hospital where they are having their treatment. At the workshop they receive professional advice on dealing with the visible aspects of treatment and an opportunity to develop their make-up skills. Each patient who attends a workshop is also given a gift box full of high quality products which are generously donated by the cosmetics industry.
These free-of-charge workshops are non-medical and the emphasis is on having fun. They also do not interfere with the patient’s treatment in any way. A member of hospital staff, usually a nurse, takes responsibility for inviting the patients and managing the numbers for the workshops.
All of the Look Good…Feel Better beauty advisers who deliver the workshops are volunteers who are beauty industry professionals. They are recruited through local press advertising and receive an induction to the programme which includes training about cancer and its side-effects. The volunteer beauty advisers are asked to commit to delivering a minimum of four workshops per year. They are then placed with a lead volunteer at the hospital of their choice.
The Look Good…Feel Better programme is currently operating in the following Dublin hospitals; Beaumont, the Mater, St. James’s, St. Luke’s and St. Vincent’s. It is also on offer at Cork University Hospital, Letterkenny General Hospital in Donegal, Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar, Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, University Hospital Galway and Waterford Regional Hospital. This year, over 100 workshops in Ireland will be organised.
For further information, please contact