Name: CHAN, Sin Fong
Subject: Bring the world back to their lives
Visit Time: 24/10/2006 11:36 PM
Remark:
It is a great idea that Eastern Palliative Care in Melbourne offers writing biographies of the terminally ill. As NATASHA JOHNSON puts it, this service helps to focus on easing the distress of the dying.
I was a volunteer community health visitor for several years. I visited bed-ridden or wheel chair bound sufferers in nursing homes. My role was to chat with them, 45 minutes to an hour a week. I looked forward meeting my clients, and so did my clients.
Visitors of residents in nursing home or patients in hospitals normally talk about the family affairs, something uninteresting nor mind stimulating. I was determined to bring a virtual world back to their lives during my visits. Our conversation would cover topics from current affairs to ancient history, from politics to religion, from medical breakthrough to testing another recipe in my own kitchen, etc. In fact we talked about anything and everything which they missed so much since the day they lost their mobility.
When you visit a patient next time, talk with him / her about what is happening beyond the boundary of the building. Don't let him / her feel losing contact with the real world!
