A group that provides support to those who are in the final stages of life, and their families, is staging an event this weekend aimed at raising awareness about the valuable services it provides and money to continue providing those services in the future.
The Hike for Hospice, which takes place on Sunday (May 1) starting at 9 a.m. outside the Adventure Centre, is a fundraiser for the Squamish Hospice Society, which was established in 2006.
Gloria Healy, the society's president, on Tuesday (April 26) said the mission of hospice is to help people "live until they die, succinctly put. We provide support to the patient and their families until the patient dies and then help the families re-establish their lives in a world which, for them, is forever changed."
Healy said a society that provided similar services met its demise in the late 1980s because, it was just too difficult to keep the all-volunteer group going over the long term.
The current society has an all-volunteer board and relies heavily on volunteers to provide support and counseling to those who are dying and their families. But unlike the previous group, the Squamish Hospice Society also has a part-time co-ordinator who normally serves as the families' first point of contact with the society, Healy said.
"That person's mission is to go to families to find out what volunteers and programs would be appropriate for that person's needs and personalities," Healy said.
At the moment, the society has about 20 to 25 volunteers who are trained to provide counselling and support to the dying and their families. The board, meanwhile, includes a member of the Squamish General Hospital staff who is trained in palliative care and a doctor "to give us some professional input," Healy said.
There are currently no hospice beds in Squamish, so patients who need that sort of treatment need to go to the city, she said. But having hospice beds in Squamish is definitely a goal of the society, Healy said.
"As I see it, it would be hospice beds within an existing facility, most likely. That way you could have those beds in a facility without having to duplicate services," she said.
Still, the society annually provides palliative care and hospice support to more than 100 families in Squamish, Healy said.
"Hospice is much more acceptable than it used to be -people talk about death more now, though sometimes people are still pretty tight-lipped about talking about death. In general, society itself is more accepting of support," she said.
Providing support to the dying and their families requires a lot of listening and a deft touch, Healy said. That's why money raised at fundraisers such as Sunday's event is partly used to provide training for those who provide the actual counselling and support. The society recently provided a training course for eight local volunteers, Healy said.
"They have to be carefully trained to deal with these very delicate situations, so we run a training program at least once a year," she said.
Sunday's event will include two options for hikes -one through the Loggers Lane trails and one up through the Smoke Bluffs trails and back. Some who plan to participate in the walks have been collecting pledges, while those who show up on Sunday between 9 and 10 a.m. to register and support the cause with cash donations. The hikes begin at 10 a.m.
Refreshments will be provided, and the event will also include fundraising raffle and acknowledgement of the many people who volunteer their time with the hospice society, Healy said.
For information about the society, please visit www.squamishhospice.com, or to access programs and services, contact co-ordinator Grace Neudorf at (604) 848-5751.
