🏥 Compassionate Companions | Vulnerable In-patients (Hervey Bay)

About this opportunity

### 💜 Volunteer to change lives. Yours included.  📄 **This volunteer opportunity will help to offer patients social engagement in addition to the high-quality care patients receive while at the hospital.** While routines in hospitals are focused on providing high-quality clinical care, the fast-paced clinical environments can at times be disruptive to a person’s general well-being, especially when it is difficult for family and friends to visit. We know that social engagement has many benefits for patients and is demonstrated to support recovery and reduce the length of stay in the hospital. Vulnerability for In-patients may be caused by a long duration of hospital stay, significant distance from home and support networks and impaired mobility. The engagement activities vary, from conversation and coffee in the courtyard to bringing patients together for meals, jigsaw puzzles, short walks or any other suitable forms of social engagement or activity. The program is designed to be tailored to patients’ needs with the availability of our highly engaged volunteer team members and clinicians working together.' ✅ **What you’ll be doing:** - Conversations - Coffee and Tea - Short walks - Jigsaw puzzles - Any other suitable form of social engagement activity 🎁 **What’s in it for you?**  - Experience the joy of making a meaningful difference   - Do something new and different - Enjoy social interaction with others   ☑️ **Skills and experience important for this role include:**   - 18 years or older in compliance with hospital policies and procedures  -  Friendly, caring and compassionate nature -  A positive approach to life, with emotional maturity ☑️ **We’ll need to do the following checks before you start:** - Reference Checks   ♿ **Accessibility & Diversity**  - a wheelchair or mobility device - accessible toilets -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Child safe, Child friendly*** *UnitingCare is committed to being a Child Safe, Child Friendly organisation and will:* ▪ *Provide welcoming, safe and nurturing services for children* ▪ *Implement measures to prevent child abuse and neglect within our services* ▪ *Appropriately and immediately address child abuse and neglect if it does occur* ▪ *Abide by the Child Safe Standards and adhere to the Reportable Conduct Scheme* ***Commitment to Safeguarding*** *We are committed in creating services and workplaces that are welcoming and safe for every person. We work together to protect children, young people, adults and the elderly from harm within our services and the communities we support. We speak up for their safety to ensure their voices are heard. Our recruitment and workplace practices reflect our dedication in preventing abuse, harm and exploitation across UnitingCare.* ️❤️ ***UnitingCare’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Child Safety Statement*** ❤️ *UnitingCare is committed to child-safe practices and to building a volunteer workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve. We value cultural knowledge and lived experience, and we strongly encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to apply. To ensure our team mirrors the diversity of the children in our care, We actively invite volunteers from all backgrounds, including young people (15–24 years), people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds, people with disability, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and older people seeking purpose and connection.* *UnitingCare is committed to equitable access and will provide reasonable adjustments to support all applicants. Please advise us of any accessibility requirements at the time of your interview.*