Nav-CARE (Navigation-Connecting, Advocating, Resourcing, Engaging) is a volunteer navigation intervention grounded in a compassionate community, public health approach to care. It recognizes the essential nature of social support to overall quality of life for people living with declining health. Over the past year, and supported by a generous contribution from Health Canada, five hospice palliative care organizations (HPCOs) have implemented Nav-CARE in their organization and supported two other communities to do the same. Despite challenges brought about by ongoing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, these organizations have trained more than 150 Nav-CARE volunteers to help persons living with declining health and their families to connect to community resources, to navigate through changes and challenges of living with ill-health, and to engage in what makes life feel meaningful.
A compassionate community acknowledges that supporting those who live with declining health, and those who care for them, is the responsibility of all – connecting people who are passionate and committed to enhancing the experiences of those living with declining health is at the heart of the Nav-CARE program. As Erin Thompson, the Nav-CARE program manager at the Kalein Centre in Nelson, British Columbia (BC) explains, “the connections that are built between volunteers and clients are so intertwined, the relationships that people develop and the closeness. People experience a lot of growth through the volunteer role. It’s just amazing to see, amazing to be a part of.” In so doing, the volunteers make an incredible impact on clients and families and contribute to healthy, viable communities in profound ways.
Further, over the past year, these HPCOs have held more than 190 meetings, brainstorming session, town halls and forums, workshops and conferences with individuals and groups from all sectors – from business, healthcare, and faith groups to education, local government and the arts,. Building compassionate communities requires a whole community approach. It envisions diverse ‘networks of networks.’ People and groups from every sector have the honor and responsibility of igniting compassion and caring for all members of the community from birth through death. Nav-CARE further supports HPCO’s capacities to mobilize community assets and social networks through building strategic partnerships with government, health and social services, and community stakeholders to develop social capital characterized by relationships of trust, empathy and connection. These local alliances strengthen a community’s capacity to support people’s ability to maintain health and live in the community with multiple complex health conditions. As such, implementing Nav-CARE also means connecting and facilitating a networked community.
Dale Weil, the Executive Director from Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence in Montreal, Quebec reflects “we are a catalyst to bring communities together to talk about gaps, to engage them, to build networks, and to ignite communication between them to work together.” Linda Merlo, the volunteer coordinator from Greater Trail Hospice in BC echoes these sentiments: “It really takes a community to do this, and we are a conduit to be able to connect people. It surprises me the untapped capacity that we have in our communities.” But to do this successfully, explains Hope, Executive Director from Grande Prairie Palliative Care Society in Alberta (AB), you have to “listen out of the box, be open minded and listen for where the gaps are, where the cries from the community are coming from.” Such comments reflect the degree that HPCOs work to build networks among community providers: “we don’t build silos among the different health care providers and community providers”, reflects Joy, the volunteer coordinator at the Hospice Society of Camrose and District in AB, and this means “talking with anyone and everyone” to spread awareness of the HPCOs activities and how these align and depart from other services in the community.
In connecting clients and volunteers and in building a networked community, these HPCOs are a living testimony of a compassionate community program: building awareness of an upstream palliative approach to care, building volunteer capacity, and building social capital – all motivated by compassion to build a community that cares for each other.
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