Recruitment of volunteers Volunteer

Recruitment of volunteers Volunteers formed the driving force behind the development of palliative care in Sabah. There are people in every society who want to help and to do good, but they do not know how to get involved in volunteer work. At the same time, there are people who need help and do not know where to get it. In Kota Kinabalu, our aim was to mobilize willing volunteers from the community, train them, give them confidence, back them up and help them capitalize on their own good will and good intentions. We began by going to service clubs and other voluntary organizations and talking to them about the planned hospice programme and the need for volunteers. As a result of this effort, over 100 volunteers registered. They underwent a 2- day course consisting of basic knowledge about cancer, basic nursing, communication skills, etc. About 40 registrants opted to get actively involved. These volunteers were divided into two groups – those who wanted to be directly involved with the patient and family and those who wanted to help by doing odd jobs like transportation, raising funds, office work, etc. The volunteers included five doctors and eight nurses.