Western Zone - South Shore

Our Cancer Care volunteers are friendly faces welcoming patients and families as they arrive to the unit for their appointments. They provide support, comfort, assistance, and information to patients and visitors within our Cancer Care Units. Volunteers keep patients and visitors company while waiting for their appointments and during treatment. Our volunteers may offer comfort items to patients and visitors in the waiting area such as refreshments, warm blankets, tissues, and reading materials. As a volunteer you also help with keeping pamphlets/brochures and reading materials up to date. If you have a passion for helping those living with cancer, then this role may be for you.

Our Therapy Dog volunteers bring comfort, joy and a sense of companionship through pet visitation to patients and residents in our facilities. All Therapy Dog volunteer teams are required to be certified through the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Training Program. As a Therapy Dog volunteer, you can provide a wonderful break in what can be a stressful time for both patients and staff alike. If you and your dog are a certified St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog team, then this role is for you.

Community Health Boards (CHBs) are groups of volunteers from local communities, who work together to improve health and wellness of their communities. They gather ideas from local community members and share information about how to improve and promote health and wellness close to home. They focus on the many factors that affect health and wellness in our communities including income, education, and sense of belonging, among others. CHBs share what they have learned about your health and wellness priorities with Nova Scotia Health, IWK Health Centre, and other pertinent community groups.

You cannot serve on a CHB, if you are:

• An employee of the provincial health authority, the IWK Health Centre or the Department of Health and Wellness
• A person who holds privileges with the provincial health authority or the IWK Health Centre

To find a Community Health Board in your area, please check the following link: 

CHB Maps

Our In-Patient Unit Volunteers work in a supportive and interactive team environment to provide support to patients, families and staff members as part of the care team at our facilities. In-Patient volunteers can visit with patients and families, support staff with non-clinical patient care, sit with patients during meals and do a range of tasks from stocking linen carts to filling water jugs. The work can be fast-paced one shift and calmer the next. Our In-Patient volunteer programs allow volunteers to gain hands on experience in a health care setting.

The goal of our Recreation programs is to encourage and support residents in long-term care homes and hospital inpatient units to participate in recreation, leisure, and communication-based experiences. Activities could include creative expression, music, relaxation, exercises, games, or conversations. Throughout each shift, volunteers are actively engaged with patients and provide companionship and socialization. In addition, they help with setting up and cleaning up, before and after the activities. These programs give the participants the opportunity to engage in regular mental and physical activities, and to notice the benefits that such activities have on one's health. If you have a passion for healing through Recreation actives, then this may be of interest to you.

Our Veterans volunteer programs provide support to those who have tirelessly served our country at home and abroad. The Veterans volunteer roles can range from providing one-to-one social interaction with a resident within our Veteran’s unit, to supporting recreational activities such as baking, games or setting up rooms for special performers. If you are interested in giving back to those who have given so much to us, then one of these roles may be for you.