A challenge in Bangalore
Joyce Goel spent a week as a volunteer with the palliative care team in Bangalore. She describes the three main challenges she faced as:
- the holistic approach to all life-limiting diseases
- being part of a team using a multiprofessional approach
- experiencing proactive spiritual support.
She also reports that she found a deeper meaning in the experience of working together.
You can read more about Joyce Goel's experience in Hospice Information Bulletin, Volume 4 number 4 2006 page 11.
A working break in Buenos Aires
Jo McEwen took time out from her UK general practitioner training to work as a volunteer with the palliative care team at Hospital Udaondo in Buenos Aires.
In an article in Hospice Information Bulletin (volume 5, number 4, 2007 page 10) she describes the clinical work at the hospital and of Pallium, a charitable foundation delivering education, training and a palliative home care programme. She also describes a research project which looked at how palliative care patients slept while in hospital. The article also includes tips for volunteering overseas.
A summer in South Africa
In Hospice Information Bulletin (Volume 6, number 2, April 2008) Lucy Battery, a third year medical student from Wales, describes her experience of working alongside palliative care professionals in four of South Africa’s hospices. She writes about the diversity she encountered, with each community having its own cultural makeup, and the experience of being sensitive to these issues when providing care.
Lucy also writes about the professionalism of the teams she was working alongside and the affirmation of life that was evident in their work.
Further information
You can get copies of Hospice Information Bulletin by contacting our publications team.
If you are interested in volunteering please contact us.
