Dear reader, HCA Hospice Care is a registered charity that provides comfort and support to patients with life-limiting illnesses and their families. Help is rendered through hospice home care service and a hospice day care centre.
The NUSCSC branch of HCA provides support to HCA by providing a regular pool of volunteers to visit, befriend and improve the living conditions of hospice patients who live alone, and are too weak to carry out daily household chores, and to assist HCA in terms of emotional and spiritual support in any way we can.
Fret not, my friend. It is not as gloomy as you think. We do not visit hospitalized patients who are hooked up onto machines. Our visits are fun, lively and interactive. The optimism and spirit of some patients are even greater than ours! Many times the stories of our patients inspire us and gives us greater meanings into our lives. Check out our blog where we share and update on our interesting visits every week.
We have a weekly 3-hour visit on Saturday morning, to clean up the patients’ flats, and interact with them. Place of visit depends on the location of the patient's flat.
We work hard, but we play harder! We learn from our patients the art of Bee Hoon cooking, the horrors of Japanese Occupation, the secret to winning TOTO and even some basic dialects. We entertain them with songs and silly antics from our lives. Not to forget pineapple tarts making classes at one of our patient’s home =)
No worries! Most of us have no prior experience either, but we learn as we go along. HCA conducts Project Alive to educate us about the elderly, sick and dying. What’s more, there are plenty of workshops and events that will provide you with the relevant skills and knowledge such as first aid and caregiver training for all volunteers.
Just this July, we brought both home care patients and day care patients to the Singapore Garden Festival, where both the volunteers and the patients had a great time. We had also successfully organized a unforgettable Christmas party celebration for the patients last December. These are not exhaustive and there will be more to come!
Where:
Locations are dependent on elderly’s house.
When:
Saturdays, 10am to 12pm.
Who to Contact:
Tan Hong Yu
Email: nuscsc.hcahospicecare@gmail.com
Committee 2009/2010:
Chairperson: Tan Hong Yu
Vice Chairperson: Ng Xiang Ling
Secretary: Wang Rongyao
Publicity IC: Sia Long Qiang
Welfare IC: Wendy Lee
Photo albums:
Blog: