iLIVE volunteer study: Volunteer and healthcare professional perceptions of newly developed hospital end-of-life-care volunteer services, in five countries

Background: Volunteer services that provide direct support to patients receiving palliative and end-of-life care in hospitals are new and developing, but little is known about the use and experience of such services from key stakeholders. Aim: Explore the perceptions of volunteers, and healthcare professionals, towards newly established hospital end-of-life-care volunteer services, in five countries. Design: A phenomenological approach was adopted, using focus group interviews. Data were analysed using an adapted framework analysis. Setting/participants: Acute hospital in-patient units, in five European countries. Participants were recruited if they were: Volunteers from the end-of-life-care volunteer service, or Healthcare professionals working within the wards that the volunteer service is operational. Results: 20 Volunteers and 20 healthcare professionals were recruited. Most participants were female (70%, n = 14/65%, n = 13). The healthcare professionals included a majority nurses (60%). Three overall themes were generated: (1) Volunteers provided ‘unique, distinct, ‘community’ support’ bringing familiarity to an unfamiliar, medically focussed environment. (2) Volunteers were able to ‘establish a connection centred on ‘being there’ within the acute hospital environment’ despite the fast paced and highly changeable environment. (3) Through ‘relational interactions adapted to the individual person’ volunteers attended to patients’ existential and emotional needs. Conclusion: These services confer benefits that are transferrable across cultures and countries, ‘fusing’ formal care with the informal visiting of family or friends, attending to patients’ existential needs. Recommendations include exploring ways to embed the end-of-life care volunteer service into this unique environment, alongside continuing research to explore cultural differences across different countries.