By Elli Kohnert
The Barriere and District Hospice Society held a short information and training course on providing information on avoiding accidents at home, and also to assist patients to move safely and efficiently in their residence.
The session, held May 1 in the Fall Fair Hall, opened with a delicious light lunch, provided by the Hospice Society. The lunch gave the participants an opportunity to visit and to get to know each other. A number of Clearwater Hospice volunteers had accepted the invitation to join in the event, bringing the number of those attending to 19.
Physiotherapist, Andrea Mortimer, who works in the North Thompson Valley serving from Vavenby to Raleigh, facilitated the training session. She gave valuable instructions to the attending hospice volunteers on how to move their clients in and out of vehicles, and how to assist with changing positions as well as demonstrating the correct use of mobility aids.
Mortimer was not only a well-qualified instructor, but she was also friendly and outgoing, which greatly helped in getting participants to volunteer to be a patient for demonstrating how to use the mobility aid equipment properly.
Participants also had a chance to talk with the instructor about their experiences as hospice volunteers, and the group went away with useful professional advice that would be helpful for them when attending their clients.
Jane Milburn, president of the Barriere Hospice Society, attended the session. After all the years she has been working for the Society, Milburn still remains actively involved with it.
Milburn said she was pleased with the outcome of the training and information event and expressed her appreciation to Mortimer for giving Barriere so generously of her time.
“I am sure everyone added some good useful information to their present knowledge,” said Milburn.
