Volunteering to be a good neighbour for palliative care

"It's really just being a good neighbour and helping in the way that a good neighbour does."

That's how Lisa McNeil-Campbell, palliative care volunteer program lead with Nova Scotia Health's Eastern Zone, describes the Helping Hands Brigade - the new community-based volunteer program that she is developing for the palliative care service in Cape Breton County. 

"Not everyone is comfortable being around patients in a health care setting or they may not be able to make a dedicated time commitment to volunteer at the hospital or at the hospice, but they still want to help," she said. "At the same time, we have patients who are at home in the community who may not be able to do everyday tasks that they used to do like walking the dog, shovelling the driveway, weeding the garden. With this program, we want to match the volunteer's skills and abilities to a patient in the community that needs their help."

McNeil-Campbell has seen firsthand the impact that being able to do little things, like tending a garden, has on patients.

"When a person is ill, people sometimes just see the illness and not the person, but that person is still there," she said. "Patients want to stay as independent as possible and still do what they did before, but they don't want to ask for help because they feel it's a burden. With this program, volunteers can remove that burden by doing those little things that can make life easier for patients who are at home."

Many of these everyday tasks - like who will walk the dog, who will shovel the driveway so the palliative care nurse can visit - cause patients a lot of stress and worry adds McNeil-Campbell.

"We want to take that worry off them - they have enough to think about with their illness," she said. "When patients are worried and stressed, they can't focus on the things that matter like their family and friends. If we can take that stress away, that allows them to have more quality time with family and friends and enjoy that time."

In addition to the skills they bring to the program, volunteers will need to take part in one hour of training and be willing to be on call. Anyone interested in volunteering for the Helping Hands Brigade can email their name, contact information and what skills they have or tasks they can do to McNeil-Campbell at lisa.mcneil-campbell@nshealth.ca.