Duane Hicks
Nobody should have to die alone unless they choose to.
As such, the Kenora/Rainy River Palliative Care Volunteer Program is looking to train “friendly visitors” to those suffering from chronic or terminal illness.
Palliative care volunteer co-ordinator Jill Pernsky said the program helps provide assistance and company to individuals well in advance of their end of their lives.
“I believe that there should be a relationship between the volunteers and the clients that grows over time,” she remarked.
“So calling someone in a week before someone passes away is not the way it works.
“We visit people that have chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s/dementia, going through cancer treatments—it’s not just sitting there watching someone die at the end,” Pernsky explained.
“We can also offer respite to families,” she added. “A lot of families are working nowadays and they feel guilty if they don’t have the time to go sit with their loved ones or take them to an appointment, that sort of thing.
“We can do shopping. There’s different ways of helping people.”
The Kenora/Rainy River Palliative Care Volunteer Program is contacted by the hospital, Rainycrest, or a family member with a referral for a client.
Pernsky meets with the client and then starts calling volunteers who she thinks will be a good match.
“Some people require more volunteers,” she noted. “I’ve had five volunteers for one client to help out every day with something different, or to sit with them for a couple of hours.
“Our volunteers aren’t going for 10 hours a day or anything—a couple hours here and a couple hours there,” she added.
Pernsky said what a volunteer does can range from visiting someone in Rainycrest and taking them out for a walk, or taking a client for coffee or to an doctor’s appointment.
They might help them prepare meals, tidy up their home, or sit and talk to them or read to them—whatever the client requires or needs help with.
Pernsky said she certainly needs volunteers.
“There are a lot of people out there that need our help,” she stressed.
“And families are trying to work harder to look after their kids and put food on the table—they’re busier now and don’t have all the time they’d like to sit with family members.”
Pernsky mainly is looking for volunteers in the Fort Frances and Rainy River areas, noting she has “a bunch of good ladies in Emo who are wonderful—although we’ll always take more volunteers from there, as well.”
To become a volunteer, you can call Pernsky, who will give you an application form to fill out (applicants also must undergo a police background check, which is free of charge for volunteers).
“It’s not that we accept everybody. There is a screening process,” Pernsky noted.
“And they have to take an oath of confidentiality.”
Volunteers then undergo training. The next session is slated the week of March 15, said Pernsky, noting it is 30 hours of intense training.
“My volunteers are not health care-givers so we don’t do anything like medication,” she explained.
“Basically, they’re sort of like a friend.
“And of course, we’re also there to sit with people as they’re passing, if they don’t have family and they don’t want to be alone,” she added.
“With palliative care, we believe that nobody should die alone unless they choose to.”
Pernsky said being a volunteer doesn’t take up a lot of time—it can be done at their own pace. If a volunteer only wants to give up a few hours a month, that’s okay.
Being a palliative care volunteer is highly-challenging, requiring compassion, sensitivity, excellent listening skills, and a sincere desire to ease suffering. But it’s also very rewarding.
“It is hard,” Pernsky admitted. “I’ve sat with the family members, almost too numerous to mention—my dad, my son-in-law—and I know how emotionally draining it can be and how you feel guilty because you are not there all the time.
“To do this and help somebody along that road, to take some of their burden away, it’s really rewarding,” she added.
“To be with somebody that doesn’t have anybody in their final hours, on their final journey, we need people that are very compassionate.
“I must admit, I’ve cried a lot with family and with clients,” Pernsky said.
“But it is very rewarding because you’re doing something for somebody that not too many people can do.
“We’re not taking over for the family but we want to be a help to the family,” she reasoned.
If you are interested or would like more info, contact Pernsky at 482-3667 or via e-mail at johnandjill@hotmail.com
