Elche General Hospital launches a school to support people living with a stoma

Elche General University Hospital has launched an Ostomy Patient School to provide training and support for people living with a stoma, their relatives and those who care for them.

Nurses Susana López and Patricia Moreno, from the urology and surgery services, are behind the project, which aims to help patients adapt to this situation and support their wellbeing.

The first sessions were held recently under the theme ‘Sharing information and experiences’, offering a meeting place to ask questions, learn practical care skills and exchange personal experiences with other participants.

Care and everyday life

The programme envisages workshops, training sessions and participatory meetings covering stoma care, diet, physical activity, sexuality and emotional wellbeing.

An ostomy is an opening created surgically in the abdomen to allow faeces or urine to leave the body when they cannot be passed through the usual route.

This opening, known as a stoma, may require a collection bag; adapting to life with it has both physical and emotional dimensions, which the school aims to address together.

The training seeks to provide reliable information and practical tools so that people can become more independent in their own care and more confident in their everyday activities.

A space for relatives and carers too

The support also includes families and those who look after patients, whose needs form part of the approach taken in the sessions during the process of adjustment.

López highlights the importance of having a setting where people can feel confident about expressing their concerns and share experiences with others going through a similar situation.

The organisers believe that learning from peers allows participants to exchange strategies and see their concerns as normal, as well as finding answers grounded in other participants’ experience.

Moreno identifies patients’ independence as one of the goals of the training, while the project as a whole aspires to create a support network focused on the person, rather than solely on their status as an ostomy patient.