Abstract
Background : The development of palliative care, made necessary by the lengthening of life expectancy and the multiplication of chronic diseases, requires improved information. Within the system, volunteers are key players, but they are particularly poorly known.Purpose : To provide an overview of hospice volunteering in Europe and North America, by means of a narrative review of the literature focusing on three themes, organisational aspects, psychosocial aspects, and issues for the future.Methods : A search for publications related to the targeted themes was conducted in online scientific databases and supplemented by manual searches.Results : While there was a great deal of heterogeneity in the organisational context (regulation, organisation, field of intervention, role, training) between countries, the personal characteristics and experience of involvement appear to be similar. The volunteer is most often a woman of at least 55 years of age, empathetic, showing traits of agreeableness, extraversion, openness and emotional stability, and perceiving her commitment as a fulfilment. However, there are still difficulties in defining the role, in communication and integration into the health care team.Conclusions : Changing the information, training and support offered to volunteers, in order to meet these organisational and emotional needs, would make it possible to sustain their commitment and increase their numbers, which are necessary to meet the growing demand for support for people affected by a serious and progressive illness.