ANT Foundation regularly organizes training courses for citizens interested in volunteering. The meetings are for people who want to learn about the ANT mission and find out more about the different ways they can help. The course program consists of six meetings, all of which are compulsory for volunteers who want to assist directly with the patient and their family (social welfare volunteer).
Social welfare activities
It is very important for cancer patients and caregivers to maintain contact between the outside world and the family unit. The presence of a volunteer is therefore a human resource for the development of interpersonal support relationships to the patient and their family.
The work done by volunteers, conducted in an organized and carefully planned out manner, takes place at the patient’s home in collaboration with a medical team of doctors, psychologists, nurses and social workers. The activities of social welfare volunteers mainly concern the following: keeping the patient company, practical help on daily errands, and accompanying patients to medical appointments.
Integrating the figure of the volunteer within the project of oncological homecare means proposing a cultural change in the difficult environment where professionals in palliative care work. For this reason it is necessary not only to provide volunteers with proper training, but also follow the group through monthly moments of sharing and supervision.
