In response to changing trends in access to, and in the take-up of services, Cura Crisis Pregnancy Support Services has announced the restructuring of its services designed to continue to meet the contemporary needs of clients, while maintaining Cura’s caring, compassionate and professional approach. This will see all services now based at four centres nationwide, including one in Galway.
Cura has seen a drop in face to face client contacts over the past five years and has seen an increase in website visits and phone calls. Commenting on these changes the President of Cura, Bishop Éamonn Walsh, said, “As we enter our fortieth year, Cura has undertaken a strategic review to evaluate how best to meet the access needs of our clients in an environment which is very different to that of 1977. The client is at the centre of our work and Cura must continue to be accessible to all clients.
“In response, the operational structure of Cura service provision will be changing to continue to meet the needs of our clients. All Cura services, including drop-in services, will now be delivered through four main Service Hubs, in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Waterford. Service Hubs will be located in key urban areas, where we have identified an ongoing demand for drop-in face-to-face services,” he said.
In addition Cura Outreach Centres, are to be located in Sligo, Tallaght, and the Dundalk/Monaghan area. Over the coming months Kilkenny, Tralee, Ennis, Thurles, Limerick, Athlone and Wexford centres will close. All Cura services will continue to be available in these areas by appointment through the nearest Cura Service Hub.”
Ms Louise Graham, National Coordinator of Cura said, “Cura’s commitment is to ensure immediate access to services. In today’s world, this means an increased focus on telephone and online presence. In 2015, 79% of Cura clients were under the age of 35, so our review focused on trends in both behavioural change of clients in terms of access to services, and on the take-up of services. As well as improving accessibility, Cura analysed various sources of referral to its services and, unsurprisingly, there has been an exponential increase in online contact as website visits have increased by 250% from 10,563 in 2013 to 26,342 in 2015. Inversely, between 2011 and 2015, there has been a 25% drop in face-to-face client contacts (from 848 in 2011 to 622 in 2015 ). At 41%, the internet is by far the single greatest referral source for new Cura clients, with over half of new-users visiting the site via tablet or smartphone. Similarly, there has been a relative increase in incoming calls to our national helpline, with a 33% increase in call volume in 2015 when compared with the 1,200 calls received in 2014,” she concluded.
