Companion - Wellington, Porirua, or Kāpiti
The Volunteer Companion role is designed to promote and support the quality of life for Mary Potter Hospice patients who are living in their own homes, as well as provide respite for carers to support their wellbeing. Volunteer Companions come from a wide range of backgrounds and age groups. They all make themselves available to spend time with patients, which gives relief to the patient and their family, whānau or carer.
Key Tasks
Companionship may include but is not limited to:
- Sitting with the patient and talking
- Reading a book, article, letter or newspaper to the patient
- Playing cards or a board game, doing a jigsaw puzzle
- Writing cards or letters for the patients
- Walking the patient’s dog with them
- Supporting the patient to do an activity that is important to them
- Be present even if the patient does not want to talk, or if they want to sleep
- Keeping the patient company if their carer goes offsite for up to two hours
- Be safe and responsible so the carer feels confident leaving the patient at home while they go out
Key Competencies
- Have excellent interpersonal and communication skills
- Be non-judgmental and open minded
- Be comfortable working with and be able to build a rapport with a diverse range of vulnerable people
- Be compassionate and empathetic
- Be well presented, reliable, and punctual
- Be able to work within clear professional boundaries
- Have the ability to work unsupervised
- Have a high degree of integrity and the ability to maintain patient and family privacy and confidentiality
- Be willing to attend orientation and training, and ongoing learning and development opportunities relevant to the role
- Have a clean, full current driver’s licence
- Policy Vetting is required for this role
Hours
Approx. 3-4 hours per week
Location
Patients’ homes throughout Wellington / Porirua / Kāpiti
