The Government has endorsed an online toolkit developed by Lancaster University to promote best practice for volunteers helping patients at the end of life.

The project was funded by the Centre for Social Action, previously part of the Cabinet Office, in order to support end-of-life care in the community.

The researchers found that receiving care from a volunteer service has an effect in slowing the decline in quality of life of terminally ill patients.

Lancaster University has now created a free online toolkit to promote best practice and give advice on how to run a volunteering service for the benefit of patients. It is available from https://redcap.lancaster.ac.uk/surveys/?s=PKXXDXDREK

One patient said: “When you’ve got someone who’s coming of their own free will and for their own reasons and because they want to do it and like to do it out of human kindness, nothing could be better than that.”

The toolkit has been endorsed by the Government Minister for Care Caroline Dinenage who said:

“Compassionate, high quality end of life care is about so much more than just treatment and control of symptoms. It is also about the network of family, friends, carers and volunteers who support people approaching the end of their lives.

“Those who volunteer their own time to support others in this position really do make a difference to their lives and this new online toolkit will make it easier for people to provide this service and offer both practical and emotional support.”

The evaluation of the social action projects was carried out by Lancaster University and the Institute for Volunteering Research.

Professor Catherine Walshe, Co-Director of the International Observatory on End of Life Care at Lancaster University, said: “This research shows that doctors and other clinicians can confidently refer people in their last year of life to volunteer services for support which complements the clinical care offered. Clinicians should consider referring patients in the last year of life who have high social needs, and potentially those who live alone. They can expect that these services may slow a person’s decline in quality of life.”

The researchers examined the effects of several projects providing compassionate support to patients including:

· befriending (e.g. companionship, emotional and peer support)

· practical support (e.g.house/garden work, walking pets, picking up prescriptions)

· and provision of information/navigation towards relevant services.

They discovered that the amount of hours of voluntary support affects the wellbeing of the patient with more benefit for more frequent contact or longer time together at each contact.