News

Palliative care volunteers who provide psycho-social support for people and carers at or near the end of life benefit from skills of empathy, self-regulation and insight.

Little information exists as to how volunteers experience these attributes.

Do they reflect on the challenges faced and the journeys that they joined with patients and families, and if so how do they express these feelings and experiences? Have particular experiences of end of life care been formative for them in a way that stands out in their memories? Do they find inspiration in literature, music or perhaps in an image?

In March 2017 the Volunteer Support Services Programme engaged Ros Bradley, editor and palliative care volunteer biographer, to curate stories and reflections from palliative care volunteers in NSW. The project ran for eight weeks concluding before National Palliative Care Week 2017.

Click here to read or download the report by Alex Huntir and Ros Bradley.