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The Citizen, 1998-05-27, Page 7With friends Kathy Procter, volunteer co-ordinator with Wingham Palliative Care Services, right, enjoys a visit with volunteer June MacEwen of Gorrie, centre and Joan Edgar, also of Gorrie. June and Joan were first introduced when the latter's husband was dying of cancer. She acknowledges the support June gave not just her husband, but the entire family during the many difficult days. A strong friendship has formed between the two women, which Joan says has continued to sustain her, since her husband's death. Always on the lookout for volunteers, Kathy says that anyone willing to take the course would be welcomed. 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Palliative care easing the pain By Bonnie Gropp Citizen staff Another day dawns, the sun is shining, and a loved one is dying. For families of the terminally ill, the arrival of each new day is not just a step closer to inevitable loss, but a journey that must continue on. Making the time left as comfortable and full as possible is challenged by the knowledge that for the healthy, time cannot stand still. Providing support to these people has been the role of Wingham's Palliative Care Services for the past 10 years. Volunteer Co-ordinator Kathy Procter describes the role of a palliative care volunteer as enhancing the quality of life for the dying, as well as offering bereavement support for the family. June MacEwen of Gorrie has been with the service since its inception. She says, "It's about offering the best quality of life to a client who is going through a terminal illness, then helping after." Joan Allen lives in Gorrie as well, but had never met June, until she was put in touch with Palliative Care. Joan's husband was dying of cancer and Juhe spent time with him visiting and playing cards while Joan had to be at work. "He hated being in the hospital and knowing someone could be there with him, made having to go to work a lot easier," Joan says. "After he passed away, June was just wonderful. She came by to visit and just seemed to say the right thing at the right time," says Joan. "I could call any time, day or night. She was a friend. I just couldn't have done it without her." June, however, sees her visits as more reward than honour. "When I do these things I don't realize it means as much to you as it does to me," she says to Joan. "I have made many, many friends." Her visits with Joan's husband were good times, she says. Joan added, "He told June things he never told me." Being a good listener is one of the few things "required to be a palliative care volunteer. "It isn't what you say, but what you listen to," says June. Other important factors are being able to spend some time ("You can't go into someone's house for 15 minutes," June notes.), enjoying being with people and the ability to keep confidences. Volunteers have an eight-week training course, which requires about three hours per week. "If they can play cards, read, go for walks or drive a car those are key areas of assistance," says Kathy. While it is an aspect of life that some may not feel comfortable dealing with, Kathy says it's surprising what people will discover once they begin. "Death is something people don't like to deal with until they have to, but sitting with someone who is terminally ill seems to help take the fear out of it." Volunteers can be any age from seniors to youth. "I wouldn't turn anyone away if they were willing to take the course," says Kathy, adding that for youths considering a career in gerontology the work would be extremely beneficial. Some of the topics the course covers are effective helping, caring for the dying, alternative therapies, as well as emotional, social and spiritual issues. Courses are free and there is no final examination. It was due to illness, which kept her bed-ridden for a month, that prompted June to help others. "I couldn't work and I was climbing the walls. When I got better I said I was going to do something for people who needed me. I learned so much and I continue to learn." Clients are referred to Palliative Care, which is a non-profit organization run by a volunteer board, through hospitals, Community Care, ministers or personally. Currently they have 25 clients for 15 volunteers, says Kathy. After filling in an in-take form, clients are matched with volunteers. "We try to find out interests and hobbies as well as location„" says Kathy. While June has become a family friend, Joan says in the beginning her husband was a little leery. "They could use more male volunteers. My husband just wasn't sure about another female coming into his life." As the office is staffed by volunteers, people are encouraged to leave' a message if they get the answering machine. Another service that has just begun in the last few years for Palliative Care is friendly visits at hospitals and nursing homes. "A lot of people not comfortable in a crisis situation can do this," says June. Kathy adds that this also makes the volunteer familiar so that they are accepted when a crisis does happen. Both Kathy and June hasten to add that the palliative care volunteers work as support to nursing staff. "We can assist allowing health care people to get on with their jobs." As the visits do become personal for most volunteers, it is difficult to determine the number of hours they spend. Says Kathy, "It's more about friendship than volunteering." June smiles when Kathy says she puts in "exceptional hours". "It's hard to put this into words because it's about feeling, but I do this to help people. I don't think about the time I spend, because the benefits are out of this world. If someone has just one hour they could spend with a client, I mean it, it would change their life," says June.