When Kanahooka retiree Neville Bryce tells people about his new role as a palliative care volunteer, one of the most common reactions he gets is sympathy.
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"Everyone goes, 'Oh, my God, it's terribly sad, a terribly sad thing to do'," he said.
But he says this is misplaced, because while it can be confronting, supporting someone who is dying has been a rewarding, life-affirming experience that has helped him feel he's making a real difference.
"It is quite an honour because people are sharing their life's journey, and that opens your eyes to the world that someone might have lived in," he said.
"It's rewarding to be able to be allowed into the whole history of someone's life and the things they've done, where they've traveled, the work achievements, the family achievements.
"So it's not all about the sadness, which is there too, it's actually an honour.
"Most people who are dying don't want to talk about dying, they want to talk about their life."
Mr Bryce decided to become a palliative care volunteer after attending last year's Illawarra volunteer expo, where he learnt for the first time about the role volunteers play in the health system's palliative care services.
"In my work, I was originally a primary school teacher, a principal, a school counsellor and before I retired I was a principal education officer for Disability Transport," he said.
"The most rich and rewarding times I had was helping families in need around grief and loss and trauma, being a support to families in their time of need, so I thought this would draw on my experience."
Since starting his new role in March, Mr Bryce is one of about 30 volunteers across the region who work in palliative care and bereavement, providing social and emotional support to people who are dying or who have recently had loved ones die.
The volunteers work in the community and in hospital settings to help improve the quality of life for patients under the care of the the health district's palliative care services.
According to volunteer coordinator Cynzia Dei-Cont the extra layer of support, outside the clinical services, is an invaluable part of palliative care.
"Quite often, they provide companionship, respite for carers, or in the case of bereavement companions, they might be signposting services that are available to the bereaved person," she said.
"But it really is on a case by case basis, because people have different needs."
Mr Bryce said the role could include providing respite for carers, emotional support, companionship while reading or doing crosswords and puzzles or, for patients who are able, going out together to art galleries, museums or the botanical gardens.
Most volunteers work on a weekly basis with their clients, but this is up to the individuals involved to negotiate.
Ms Dei-Cont said the district was recruiting for more volunteers and would be providing training sessions iin September and October for those interested in the role.
"The training really is extensive because of our duty of care for not just the patients and carers, but also for the volunteers," she said.
"We give them initially about 40 hours of training delivered by healthcare professionals and then the bereavement companions go on and do another 14 hours on top of that.
"We look at things like death and dying, illness and care, spirituality, diversity, communication, self care, so people do feel prepared."
She said many of the volunteers used what they learned in the sessions when they or their loved ones were faced with death.
"Sometimes it happens that volunteers say, look, I'm not available for the next period of time because a friend of the family or my friend is coming towards the end of life and I'm going to help them," she said.
"So they're using the skills that they've learned and they share that with their family and their friends."
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Mr Bryce said the role had given him a new perspective on how to navigate the inevitability of death in his own life.
"There's certain things in terms of planning that are really positive and healing, and I've learned for myself, if I was to get a life limiting illness, that I'd certainly take charge of my own pathway," he said.
"That's what I found from palliative care is that the patient, the client, is the focus - it's their journey and you're just a midwife to help them on that journey.
"You come into the world with a midwife and you should go out of the world with a midwife too."
To learn more about volunteering with the ISLHD Palliative Care Service call the Illawarra Volunteer Coordinator on 0439 443 387 or the Shoalhaven Volunteer Coordinator on 0428 113 492.
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