Carers Service Volunteer
St Joseph's Hospice Hackney
The purpose of the Carers Service is to recognise and support the people who care for hospice patients with a disability or life limiting illness – helping them to get through difficult times and major life changes.
St Joseph’s Hospice looks after and supports people over 18 years of age with incurable life limiting conditions. We aim to help people to ‘live’ with their illness as comfortably and independently as they can. We also aim to support friends, families and carers who may also be affected by an individual's illness. Role Summary: Not everyone has the support that they can rely on to help them through difficult times and major life changes. Our Carers Service aims to enable carers to have a break, help combat social isolation, empower carers and improve their physical and emotional wellbeing. We recognise and value the wide and diverse range of skills and experience that volunteers can bring to support our new Carers Service, to support carers who are caring for patients known to and accessing St Joseph’s Hospice services. Once trained, our Carers Service Volunteers are introduced to a Carer, with the purpose of them spending a few hours together each week to have a chat, enjoy shared hobbies together, help with light house hold tasks, provide carer respite etc. Key tasks: • To meet with your service users on a regular basis on mutually agreed dates/times. • To provide emotional support and companionship to patients and carers when visiting. This may include tasks such as listening, talking and reading. • Carer respite: to sit with and provide companionship to the patient (between 1-4 hours) to enable the carer to take a break, do some shopping, attend a support group, meet up with friends or family, or attend their own heath appointments. • Develop an awareness of other services and resources available for carers at the hospice and local community. • To be alert to and identify those needing in-depth support or additional services, and report this to the Carer Service Coordinator as appropriate. • To perform light tasks, this may include preparing drinks or snacks, washing a few dishes, collecting prescriptions etc. • To offer telephone support/befriending to carers. • Complete and submit professional visit records in a timely manner
Caring
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Time requirement: • Minimum of 2 hours per week for a minimum of 6 months post induction training. • Attendance at a 2 hour group volunteer supervision/feedback session at the hospice, once a month. • There is a 3-month probationary period. • Participation in supervisory support sessions – group and individual. Skills and qualities required: • Completion of the Carers Service Volunteer Training Programme • Good communication skills • Patience and empathy • Reliable, dependable and enthusiastic • Accepting, understanding and non-judgemental • Respect the confidentiality & privacy of each service user & the information they share. • Ability to work without direct supervision. • Ability to recognise and work within own limitations and that of the role, asking for help and advice as needed. • Ability to keep accurate and timely documentation • Establish and maintain appropriate boundaries Desirable: • Ability to speak another language
Training offered: • 1 day Carers Service Volunteer Training • 1 day Hospice Induction (inclusive of mandatory training modules) • A diverse programme of training sessions to support your continued development Benefits: • Make a difference to the lives of patients and carers of St Joseph’s Hospice. • Reimbursement of travel and phone expenses incurred in relation to your volunteer work • On-going supervision and support. • A commitment to continued development of your volunteering role. • Provision of a reference after 6 months active volunteering.
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E8 4SA
Mare Street
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