Objectives

We learned from international experience that volunteers play pivotal roles in end-of-life care. Their contribution to the quality of life of terminally ill patients and families has been recognized.  End-of-life care is not the sole responsibility of professionals, but it matters to everyone. As our population ages rapidly, there is a pressing need to engage the community to build a caring environment to support the growing number of patients who face terminal illnesses. Volunteers make major contribution in end-of-life care because they are able to:

• provide more individualized services to patients and families
• facilitate person-centered psychosocial and spiritual care
• engage the community stakeholders in providing end-of-life care services
• help create a caring atmosphere in the community for supporting end-of-life patients and their families.

References:

Candy, B., France, R., Low, J., & Sampson, L. (2015). Does involving volunteers in the provision of palliative care make a difference to patient and family wellbeing? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative evidence. International journal of nursing studies, 52(3), 756-768.

Finkelstein, M. A., Penner, L. A., & Brannick, M. T. (2005). Motive, Role Identity, and Prosocial Personality as Predictors of Volunteer Activity. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 33(4), 403-418. doi:10.2224/sbp.2005.33.4.403