Recommendations for the well-being of the volunteer

The end of life is a highly complex and fragile situation, not only for the individual but also for their family and closest circle (friends, formal and informal caregivers). Specific care is required, focused on improving the quality of life for everyone in the individual's inner circle through the prevention and alleviation of suffering. This is achieved through early identification and the thorough assessment and treatment of pain and other physical, psychosocial, and spiritual challenges. It is essential to provide person-centered care that understands death as a natural process and seeks to promote the individual's autonomy and dignity.

Self-care guidelines for health and social sector professionals

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Given the great complexity, individuality and difficulty of the situations experienced at the end of life, palliative care teams must be essentially multidisciplinary and require the coordination of efforts from the significant environment, care professionals and volunteers.

The role of the volunteer is fundamental in the end-of-life process.

Among the many benefits of accompaniment, we can highlight:

• It offers emotional support to the person being accompanied and to the family, as well as to their most significant environment.
• It relieves the feeling of loneliness.
• It reduces the social isolation of the sick person and their significant environment.
• It promotes leisure and independence. Leisure and entertainment can increase self-esteem and quality of life.
• Identify needs. Thanks to the bond, time, and closeness they share, volunteers can identify specific needs that can help in the end-of-life process. It is important to involve the rest of the therapeutic team.
• It enhances civic awareness.

Providing support during end-of-life situations can be a unique experience, an opportunity for self-discovery and personal growth. However, like any situation that exposes us to human vulnerability, it can jeopardize our physical and emotional well-being . Therefore, self-care for volunteers is fundamental to any support role, but it is even more crucial in end-of-life situations.

Simple strategies for self-care for volunteers:

• Embrace your emotions . There are no positive or negative emotions. There are emotions we like to feel and others we don't. Give yourself the freedom to feel what you feel and don't be guided by what you think you should feel. Blocking or repressing emotions creates more pain.
• Stop, breathe, and listen . Emotions can become mixed together, creating deep emotional distress. Recognizing and understanding what we feel is a complex task that requires time.
• Letting go. Acknowledging and validating emotions is fundamental, but we can't fall into the trap of holding onto them indefinitely. We must "let them go," express them, or externalize them. There's no single system for expressing emotions. Each person must find their own (writing in a journal, talking to someone, praying, painting).
• We can't choose what we feel, but we can decide how to act . It's healthy and necessary to acknowledge all emotions, but we can't acknowledge all the resulting behaviors. Giving in to our emotions isn't always the best option. Immediate reactions are often irrational, visceral, and primal. Many times, it's better to stop, understand the emotion that's overwhelming us, and give ourselves time to react calmly and peacefully.
• Acting from a place of calm reduces discomfort . Calmness encourages listening, understanding, acceptance, and validation of emotions. It will help us avoid reacting to those around us; if we stop and listen, we can see beyond our visceral reactions.
• We are not alone . We must not forget that volunteers do not carry out their work alone, but rather have a whole team with them to whom they can turn for help, support, and with whom they can share difficulties. Teamwork also allows us to learn new strategies for self-care.