Students as Volunteer Contingents in Palliative Care: A Case Study

Francina P X; Sabu P Thomas; Ganga Babu B; Angel Mariya Dominic

Francina P X Loyola College of Social Sciences
Sabu P Thomas Loyola College of Social Sciences
Ganga Babu B Loyola College of Social Sciences
Angel Mariya Dominic Loyola College of Social Sciences

Keywords: Student volunteers, community engagement, palliative care, psychosocial support, experiential support, signalling functions

Abstract

Palliative care (PC) is a service that focuses on addressing the psychological and spiritual
concerns of terminally ill patients and their caregivers, not just physical symptoms.
Nowadays, trained individuals, especially socially responsible students, volunteer to
provide emergency services in collaboration with various organisations. This study
evaluates the activities of PC student volunteers (SVs) in community engagements. This
case study of Palliare, a student PC initiative, used secondary data to identify the activities
of SVs in PC, the benefits to patients and their families from volunteering and the benefits
of SVs. Teams of students who volunteered to provide PC acted as support systems
providing psychosocial support to patients and their caregivers. Collaboration and
stakeholder interaction also provided SVs with personal and professional benefits.