Case study:

08 June 2009

Volunteer Telephone Bereavement Support Follow-up Service in Leckhampton Court Hospice

Key points

A team of trained volunteers offers a telephone bereavement service to family and friends of patients who have died at The Sue Ryder Care–Leckhampton Court Hospice or who received support from another hospice service.

Telephone calls are made to the family members or friends at around one month, three months, six months and a year after the death. People are signposted to additional sources of support and referred for face-to-face bereavement support where appropriate. They are also encouraged to use existing support systems in their family, social and community networks.

The service has now been operating for over six years and informal feedback suggests recipients are very satisfied with the level of support. At the same time the volunteers have shown their commitment and engagement by staying involved, many since the service was launched. This has enabled the hospice to offer a consistent, experienced level of support.

The service is managed by the Head of Family Support (specialist palliative care social worker) who offers coordination, training and supervision and is supported by a part-time volunteer administrator. A confidential room, equipped with telephones, can be booked for specific times when volunteers are making calls. A simple card index system is used to monitor completion of telephone calls. Where telephone contact has been requested but not achieved, letters are sent instead.

Selecting appropriately motivated volunteers is vital: interviewing, ongoing training, supervision and review have ensured a high standard of practice and retention. All volunteers receive ongoing monthly supervision and regular training updates.

They are also given opportunities to review their role and expand it to allow them to take on face-to-face support after appropriate training.

The service has now incorporated the new bereavement needs assessment tool (Help the Hospices Guidance for Bereavement Needs Assessment in Palliative Care, 2008) into its approach.

The service is likely to face increased demand in the future if the hospice services expand and this might make it necessary to recruit additional volunteers.