“Like many people I fell into palliative care due to personal reasons. My grandad was in a hospice in 2016 just when I was qualifying as a social worker. Before that I never would have thought of hospice. But when I saw the care he and my family received, it made me want to give back. It inspired me.
I remember my grandad asking for jelly one night [in hospice]. It was the middle of the night and he wanted jelly. He hadn’t eaten for days. And they got it. I know it’s something so small. He took one bite and went back to sleep. But it’s those little things that make Hospice care so special. That’s the metaphor I work with in terms of what I do.
We look at the emotional and practical needs of patients and their families. On the Inpatient Unit, we meet with patients, get to know them and look at what their needs might be in very practical terms. We help with financial elements, social elements. They might have had some bad news and need a chat to reflect on it. The doctors and nurses are brilliant at delivering this information, but sometimes offloading to someone outside the team can be really valuable.
In the community, I often step in when there are difficulties with finances or when people are struggling emotionally. A lot of our patients and their families find it difficult to comprehend what is going on. The health side of their diagnosis can have a knock-on effect to things like work, relationships and everything in between. So we work to support them, evaluate what their needs are and signpost to outside agencies. Or we can step in and put together a plan with them.
As a Hospice social worker, we can go above and beyond, doing those little things for people. Helping to make birthdays and anniversaries a little more special. Supporting patients as they write letters to leave behind. We try to make sure that things are taken care of so that people can feel peaceful.
You do get attached to patients. And it’s lovely that they let you into their lives and want you to know who they are. It can be difficult to say goodbye. It can be difficult to watch a family lose someone. But I honestly think if you can give someone positive memories from such a difficult time in their life, that’s amazing.”
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