Comfort. Volunteers help to comfort the dying person by, for example, brushing their hair, massaging their feet and legs, and holding their hand. Encouragement. Volunteers encourage the person to pursue their interests. They promote their health and well-being. Practical assistance. Volunteers help with practical tasks, such as running errands or transporting the person to and from appointments. Informational support. Volunteers act as a link or liaison between the person/family and the medical staff. Respite care. Volunteers provide relief for the family or other caregivers, allowing them to take some time out. They also provide loss and grief support. Spiritual/religious supports . If the person or family requests it, the volunteer can provide spiritual support by, for example, praying with the family or reading from sacred writings. Grief and bereavement support . Volunteers help the person and particularly family members by providing support with grief and bereavement. Advocacy. Volunteers are advocates for hospice palliative care in their communities. Because they are knowledgeable about hospice palliative care, they can let people know that services are available. They can also encourage community action that supports hospice palliative care, such as public discussions or cafés on death, dying, grief and loss, education sessions about the benefits of hospice palliative care for people who are dying and their families, and more services for friends and families who are caring for someone who is dying. Some programs have “professional service” volunteers: hairdressers, accountants, computer programmers and complementary therapists (e.g. massage, reflexology, Reiki, aromatherapy) who donate their services to the dying person or family. Some programs also recruit volunteers for administrative roles, such as working in the office, serving on the Board or helping with fundraising. 5. WHO MAKES A GOOD HOSPICE PALLIATIVE CARE VOLUNTEER? Researchers have identified the characteristics of people who are good hospice palliative care volunteers (Claxton-Oldfield and Banzen, 2010). Effective volunteers are: Good Listeners. They are comfortable with silence and they are active listeners and good communicators. Empathetic. They feel compassion and concern for others.
12
Made with FlippingBook Annual report maker