Fourteen new Sunshine Coast Hospice volunteers have been on a learning journey together, spending over 30 hours in an intense Zoom volunteer orientation to learn about compassionate end-of-life care on the Sunshine Coast. Funded by the Sunshine Coast Healthcare Auxiliary, this training is the beginning of their life-long learning of supporting vulnerable people in all stages of their end-of-life journey and loss.
“I didn’t think it was possible to create such an incredible community online,” Hospice volunteer manager Doreen George said after the training. “We learned, and shared together, and as one volunteer remarked, ‘We are a village of like-minded people.’ We all look forward to getting together once COVID-19 is over.”
The rigorous Hospice volunteer training guides volunteers through group activities, take-home assignments, guest presenters and panelists from the end-of-life community, a binder of resources, and times of sharing and reflection on their own feelings and experiences around illness, death and grief. The training covers subjects such as how to sit with a dying person or practise gentle touch, the importance of holding space, active listening and self-care, and writing legacy letters or advance care plans.
Hospice has been offering end-of-life care services on the Coast for 33 years, including sitting vigil with people as they are dying, providing companionship for people receiving palliative care and respite for caregivers, offering one-to-one and group bereavement support, funding the comfort measures for two hospice beds at Shorncliffe, facilitating advance care planning, and promoting public education on death, dying and grief.
Hospice can still provide support at a physical distance during COVID-19, by the phone or through physically distanced walks with masks.
“We want the community to know that we are there for you if you need support, especially right now during COVID-19,” says Tatiana Velasquez, Hospice’s client services coordinator. “Please give us a call at 604-740-0475 and we can connect you with a volunteer. You do not have to feel alone.”
To learn more about Hospice services, or to donate, visit www.coasthospice.com.
Katie Clogg is philanthropy and communications manager for Sunshine Coast Hospice Society.
