News

Palliative care volunteering faces unique challenges. It is rare for a clinical speciality to invite members of the general public into direct contact with their patients and families the way that palliative care does.

Volunteers bring a non-clinical and non-expert focus. They bridge the gap between the expert and the lay person in the community. They sit in the middle of the formal – informal care continuum. Volunteers are part workforce, and part community.

This report traces the social and historical roots of hospice & palliative care volunteering. It also considers what we have learnt about volunteering in NSW from our studies over the last few years.

How can we best support the volunteers and the services that support them? What do we want for palliative care volunteering in NSW?

The Statewide Framework sets out three domains to guide the governance, management and development of palliative care volunteer services in NSW.

Create a safe harbour. Nurture talent. Adopt communities.

This 2017 report offers insights from the Volunteer Support Services Programme about the needs of palliative care volunteers programs in NSW in the future.

Click here to go to the report by Palliative Care NSW.