Volunteer Role and Registration

The Role of the Hospice Palliative Care Volunteer

The role of the Hospice Palliative Care Volunteer is to be of assistance to anyone who may need it…the patient, their families or other members of the care provider team.  The volunteers have indicated their interest in working with, and their ability to relate to patients and families affected with a life limiting condition.

Volunteers are key members of the Hospice Palliative Care team.

These dedicated individuals are viewed by patients and families as peers and as such can provide the human contact which may give the professional members of the care team a clearer insight into patient and family needs.

Volunteers provide patient and family support in ways and at times when professional teams would have been unavailable, inappropriate or inadequate.

The volunteer does not usually see the patient every day, so a certain freshness and vitality arrives with that volunteer which is great support to the care providers and family who may be continuously close to the dying person.

As a non-medical member of the health care team, a volunteer is in a unique position to serve in the role of patient advocate.  Information which the patient is unable to share with doctors, nurses and/or family due to their total dependence on them for their physical well-being is often accessible to the volunteer.  The volunteer can then assist the patient to find non-threatening ways to communicate needs, or if the patient prefers, act as a diplomatic intermediary between patient and caregiver.