Living Well programme

What is the Living Well Programme?

Living Well is a free group self-management programme. Self-management is what a person does every day to manage their long-term health condition. This may include making choices to improve your health such as becoming more active, eating more healthily and stopping smoking. It may also include more complex tasks such as taking medication, monitoring your symptoms, coping with the emotional aspects of the condition and communicating with healthcare professionals.

Living with a long-term health condition can be challenging, especially during COVID-19. The Living Well programme supports you to develop the skills which will help you to live well with a long-term health condition. The Living Well programme has proven to be effective in helping people to manage their health conditions better.

Living Well has been provided in Ireland for many years under a variety of names including: ‘Quality of Life’ (Donegal), ‘Self Care to Wellness’ (Mayo & Roscommon), ‘Better Health Better Living’ (Beaumont Hospital) and Living Well with Arthritis (Arthritis Ireland) to name a few.

Living Well Programme

  •  Living Well is a free group programme which runs online for 6 weeks. There is one workshop each week which lasts 2.5 hours.
  •  Two trained leaders run the workshops each week. At least one of the leaders lives with a long-term health condition.
  •  People taking part in the workshops may have the same health condition as you. Others will have different health conditions. There will be up to 12 people taking part in the group.
  •  The workshops are delivered in a relaxed and friendly way so that all participants can learn from each other. You can also share experiences of living with your condition.
  •  Each person who takes part gets a book about self-management.

Who this programme is for

Living Well is for adults 18 years and over.

It is suitable for you if you are:

  •  living with one or more long-term health conditions 
  •  caring for someone with a long-term health condition

Living Well is not suitable for people with significant memory or learning difficulties.

What is covered each week

A key part of Living Well is setting goals that you want to achieve. Each week you learn how to reach these goals by making an action plan. You also get support from the group to problem solve.

In addition, the following are covered over the 6 weeks:

Week 1

  • Using your mind to manage symptoms
  • Fatigue and getting a good night’s sleep
  • Introduction to action plans

Week 2

  • Dealing with difficult emotions
  • Physical activity, exercise, preventing falls

Week 3

  • Decision making
  • Pain management
  • Healthy eating

Week 4

  • Breathing techniques
  • Reading food labels
  • Communicating skills

Week 5

  • Medication management
  • Positive thinking, dealing with low mood and feelings of depression

Week 6

  • Making informed treatment decisions
  • Planning for the future 

Upcoming Living Well Programmes 2023

If you are interested in taking part in this programme or would like more information, please contact your local Living Well Team. They will make contact with you and let you know about the next available programme.

If your county is not listed please contact the team closest to you.

CHO 1

Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan

Date: Wednesday 26th April to Wednesday 7th June
Time: 10.30am to 1pm
Location: Online

Date: Thursday 25th May to Thursday 6th July
Time: 10.30am to 1pm
Location: Ballybofey, Co Donegal

Living Well Office
Phone: 087 1800286
Email: Livingwell.NW@hse.ie

CHO 2

Mayo, Galway, Roscommon

Date: Wednesday 26th April to Wednesday 31st May
Time: 10.30am to 1pm
Location: Galway City

Date: Tuesday 2nd May to Tuesday 6th June 
Time: 10.30am to 1pm
Location: Roscommon Town 

Date: Wednesday 10th May to Wednesday 14th June
Time: 7pm to 9:30 pm
Location: Online

Contact: Fiona Cunnane
Phone: 087 7185615
Email: fcunnane@southmayo.com

CHO 3

Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary

Date: Tuesday 25th April to Tuesday 30th May
Time: 10.30am to 1pm
Location: Ennis Primary Care Centre, Station Road, Ennis, Co Clare 

Date: Tuesday 25th April to Tuesday 30th May
Time: 2:30pm to 5pm
Location: Ennis Primary Care Centre, Station Road, Ennis, Co Clare 

Date: Thursday 27th April to Thursday 1st June
Time: 10.30am to 1pm
Location: Southill Family Resource Centre, Limerick City

Date: Friday 28th April to Friday 2nd June
Time: 10.30am to 1pm
Location: Caherconlish Millennium Centre, Caherconlish, Co Limerick

Contact: Philip Hennessy
Phone: 087 1799396
Email: philip.hennessy2@hse.ie

Contact: Liz Cox
Phone: 087 1799392 
Email: liz.cox@hse.ie

CHO 4

Cork, Kerry

There are currently no programmes scheduled. 

Please contact the team in another area if you wish to attend.

Please note the Location as Programmes can be Online or In-Person.

Contact: Maeve Carmody
Email:Maeveh.carmody@hse.ie

CHO 5

Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, South Tipperary

Date: Wednesday 12th April to Wednesday 17th May 
Time: 2:00pm to 4:30pm 
Location: Bagenalstown Family Resource Centre, Carlow

Date: Thursday 4th May to Thursday 8th June  
Time: 10:30am to 1:pm 
Location: SWW Family resource centre, Ramsgrange, Co Wexford

Date: Tuesday 16th May to Tuesday 20th June  
Time: 2:00pm to 4:30pm 
Location: Online

Date: Wednesday 24th May to Wednesday 28th June 
Time: 10:30am to 1pm 
Location: Online

Contact: Living well office 
Call:056 7784955
Email: livingwellse@hse.ie

CHO 6

Dublin South East, Dun Laoghaire, Wicklow

Date: Friday 21st April to Friday 2nd June  
Time: 10:00am to 12:30pm
Location: Online 

Date: Wednesday 26th April to Wednesday 7th June  
Time: 7:00pm to 9:30pm
Location: Online

Date: Wednesday 10th May to Wednesday 21st June 
Time: 10:30am to 1:00pm
Location: Online

Contact: Elish Carr
Phone: 087 4053 880
Email: LivingWellCHEast@hse.ie

CHO 7

Dublin South, Kildare & West Wicklow Community Healthcare

There are currently no programmes scheduled.

Please contact the team in another area if you wish to attend.

Please note the Location as Programmes can be Online or In-Person.

Contact: Mary-Rose Cunningham
Phone: 087 4320202
Email: maryrose.cunningham@hse.ie 

CHO 8

Laois, Offaly, Longford, Westmeath, Louth and Meath

Date: Wednesday 22th March to Wednesday 3rd May
Time: 10.30am to 1pm
Location: Online

Date: Thursday 23rdMarch to Thursday 4th May
Time: 10.30 to 1pm
Location: Online

Contact: Aine McNamee
Phone:
 087 114 0371
Email: Aine.Mcnamee@hse.ie

CHO 9

Dublin North City and County

Date: 28th March to Tuesday 2nd May
Time: 10.30am to 1pm 
Location: In person

Date: Tuesday 4th April to Tuesday 16th May  
Time: 7:00pm to 9:30pm
Location: Online

Date: Saturday 15th  April to Saturday 27th May  
Time: 10:00am to 12:30pm
Location: Online

Contact: Leah Harrington
Phone:
 087 365 4392
Email: leah.harrington@hse.ie

Feedback on the programme

People who have done the programme say that they feel more confident and in control of their health. They also report that their mood has improved and they have better sleep.

HSE Health Matters Living Well Testimonial Winter 2022 (PDF, size 325 KB, 1 page)

"I met wonderful people with other illnesses and this made me feel ‘not alone’ which helped me emotionally.”

“It made me more aware of my habits and gave me the tools to make positive changes”

 “My confidence has increased and I feel I am now able to manage my condition better”

Promotional Material

Living Well booklet Interactive (PDF, size 1.4MB, 2 pages)

Please contact your local coordinator for printed supplies of any promotional material.

Living Well is a Self–Management Resource Centre (SMRC) Evidence-Based Self-Management Program originally developed at Stanford University.

This project has received funding from the Government of Ireland’s Slaintecare Integration Fund 2019 under grant agreements 38, 78, 185, 219, 413, 418.