Hope & Cope

Individuals with cancer need to be perceived primarily as people, and not as cases or a collection of symptoms. That’s the focus of a research paper whose JGH co-authors have been honoured with a Best Publication award by the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology.

Two LDI researchers have been elected to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Dr. Carmen Loiselle is Co-Director (Academic) of the Segal Cancer Centre. Dr. Cécile Rousseau’s career is dedicated to understanding the effects of organized violence on children and families.

In 1981, Hope & Cope was launched under the auspices of the JGH Auxiliary to use specially trained volunteers (many of whom were cancer survivors) to support and counsel cancer patients and their families.

With support from Hope & Cope, the JGH has become the first hospital in Quebec to use virtual reality goggles to boost the spirits of Palliative Care patients by enabling them to “travel” to foreign locales.

It’s better to give than receive, but what if illness makes gift-giving impossible? In Palliative Care at the JGH, a volunteer program run by Hope & Cope enables patients to choose from a variety of donated gifts that they can present to their loved ones.

Danielle Leggett, an expert in human resources management, has been appointed Executive Director of Hope & Cope and will succeed the retiring Suzanne O’Brien.

Life-affirming colour and vitality, in the form of 60 works of art from the not-for-profit Art for Healing Foundation, are lifting the spirits of users of the Hope & Cope Cancer Wellness Centre.

There’s some unusually eye-popping appeal to this spring’s display of flowers and greenery in the garden of the JGH Hope & Cope Wellness Centre.

Even as a little girl, I knew I wanted to work in a hospital. And this is where I’ve ended up—helping cancer patients and their families at Hope & Cope.

Sheila Kussner, Founder and Past Chair of Hope & Cope, has been appointed to the Order of Montreal at the rank of Commander, the highest level of the Order.