Sharron McCormick, the founder of “Shape Your Life” organization in Derry, has developed and led the first-ever cooking and nutrition course for stoma patients in Northern Ireland. The course has been hailed as a “huge success” by all its participants – patients, social workers, and stoma specialist nurses from the multidisciplinary team at Shantallow Medical Practice.
Stoma patients often face many difficulties when adapting to their new lifestyle and dietary needs, especially after surgery. That’s why Sharron was thrilled when she was asked to develop a special course tailored to the needs of stoma and ostomy patients.
The stoma patient group was initiated by social workers from Shantallow Medical Practice and stoma specialist nurses from the multidisciplinary team.
Tara Casey, the team leader, said, “The stoma group was created to provide support for stoma patients and also includes fitness classes led by personal trainer Mary-Rose, who is also a stoma patient.”
The course developed by Sharron has been a tremendous success. She took care to prepare delicious and nutritious meals, adapting recipes to the individual needs of the patients. She even went a step further and included vegan and gluten-free dishes in the course so that the whole group could enjoy the tastings.
Sharron, a nutrition specialist and NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) practitioner, aimed to tailor the recipes to the requirements of stoma patients. She created recipes that took into account digestion, gut health, and other factors specific to their dietary needs.
The course received significant interest and was recognized as the first of its kind in Northern Ireland. Sharron noted that during her research, she did not come across any similar culinary courses in the UK, except for one in America.
Sharron’s cooking course for stoma patients has also garnered media attention when ITV News shared the story of Stephen Blakely, who successfully manages life with a stoma. Sharron has also been contacted by a student from the University of Plymouth who wants to collaborate on creating a cookbook specifically for stoma and ostomy patients.
The cooking course for stoma patients developed by Sharron has been an invaluable source of knowledge for stoma specialist nurses and has promoted healthy eating among stoma patients. Participants expressed great satisfaction and emphasized that they gained new culinary skills and greater confidence in cooking stoma-friendly meals.
This significant event is already inspiring other initiatives for stoma patients throughout Northern Ireland.
The source of the article is from the blog smartphonemagazine.nl