NATIONAL NORMS FOR VOLUNTEERS

In 2001 the CHPCA published A Model to Guide Hospice Palliative Care Based on National Principles and Norms of Practice. During the time the CHPCA was working on the development of the Model, the CHPCA Board of Directors established a Standing Committee on Volunteer Issues. The Committee proposed that once the national norms were completed, the Volunteer Component should be the first to develop a companion guide to govern the work of all hospice palliative care volunteer services in Canada. The Board agreed, but was unable to obtain funding to reach that goal.

In 2001, the Secretariat on Palliative and End-of-Life Care was created under the umbrella of Health Canada and the guidance of Minister Sharon Carstairs. The Secretariat’s overall goal is to create a Canadian Strategy for palliative and end-of-life care. This responds to a clear mandate of the 2000 Senate Report Quality End-of-Life Care: The Right of Every Canadian.

The Secretariat formed five Working Groups, one being the Best Practices and Quality Working Group and this opened a window to pursue Volunteer Component needs for developing national best practices. Consequently, a subcommittee to this Working Group was formed, the Task Group on Best Practices and Quality in the Volunteer Component, with membership from across the country.

The Task Group has begun to develop a framework to guide the process of developing national best practices for volunteer services in palliative care. The goal is to create a companion document to the CHPCA Model specifically for the Volunteer Component. This document can then be adapted for other clinical and psychosocial care components.

The process to create the best practices will be participatory and consensus based. All hospice palliative care programs in Canada will be receiving an information package from the Task Group in the coming months. This package will include an outline of the guiding framework and details on how to become involved in the process.

The contents of the guiding framework will include:

• Our perspective on the essential qualities of volunteer practice;
• Our view of the values, guiding principles and foundational concepts of the CHPCA Model;
• The competencies we require of volunteers at all levels of practice, from novice to expert;
• A beginning idea of what best practices and quality mean in the Volunteer Component.

After receiving the mailing hospice palliative care programs will be asked to assist with the creation of the draft companion document. The Task Group will be using surveys to obtain responses from volunteers and the paid staff that support them. A National Symposium on Best Practices and Quality in the Volunteer Component is being planned for the Spring of 2004.

Please find below summary reports on the work of the Task Group.

History and Timeline

Task Group Meeting – Précis Minutes – March 2003

Task Group Meeting – Minutes – June 2003