National hospice institute appeals for volunteers for palliative care group
THE ALL-IRELAND Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) is looking for volunteers to join them to contribute to the future of palliative (life limiting or end of life) care.
Voices4Care is a volunteer group, which was set up to include and learn from people’s personal experiences of palliative care.
Members of the group include people with a life-limiting illness who may have palliative care needs themselves, carers or former carers and members of the public who are interested in palliative care.
Palliative care focuses on helping each person with a life-limiting illness to achieve the best possible quality of life as their illness progresses, by supporting them and their caregivers with their physical, practical, social, emotional and spiritual needs.
It helps people with a serious illness to live as well as they can for as long as they can.
Dr Feargal Twomey, consultant in palliative medicine and national clinical lead for palliative care, HSE, said: “Palliative care is everyone’s business. As none of us will live forever, at some point in our lives, either we or someone we know or are close to will need care because they become ill.
“Most people with advanced illness will need general palliative care from their family, their carers and the healthcare service, while some with more complex problems will need specialist palliative care at home, in hospital or at a hospice.
“Members of Voices4Care play an important role in the work of the HSE Clinical Programme for Palliative Care and have contributed to the development of the soon to be published National Policy for Palliative Care.
“The recent publication of the National End of Life Care Survey highlights the need for the health services to hear the views of the public who have experienced palliative care or end of life and bereavement care.”
Marian O’Mahony is a member of Voices4Care and she said being part of the group is really valuable and has taught her a lot.
“I volunteered for Voices4Care, though I didn’t know anything about what it would mean to be involved. It turned out to be such a huge benefit to me, and hopefully, I have contributed something.
“It’s a good feeling when someone wants to listen to what I have to say. It’s incredibly reassuring to know the efforts that people make to ensure the best care and the best outcome for patients and families when they need it most. It’s good to be able to contribute to that discussion.
“In short, being able to contribute opinion and experience rather than physical effort, being part of the positive change for the future, are among the benefits to me.
“I’ve learned so much about how our system works in this country, and the many wonderful efforts made to ensure that services are always improving. I’ve also made many new friends as it’s a very inclusive, positive environment that feels like family, everyone is valued.”
Applications to join Voices4Care are open until June 16 and applicants must be over the age of 18. For more information or to apply, see the AIIHPC website www.aiihpc.org.