Our volunteers provide an array of important services, from designing new technology to inspiring the next generation of health-care workers. Whatever their role, all of our volunteers are working to enhance the quality of care for patients and their families. In honour of this year\u2019s National Volunteer Week, we\u2019re spotlighting some of our volunteers who have given us the invaluable gift of their time and dedication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A cancer diagnosis is a life-changing event marked by uncertainty. Though each patient\u2019s journey is different, The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s Chemo Teach program gives patients beginning chemotherapy an overview of what they can expect from their treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During these virtual information sessions, volunteer Joanna Reid shows educational videos that walk patients through how chemotherapy works and how it is given. \u201cSome people don\u2019t know what treatment looks like or what to expect until they go,\u201d she says, \u201cso we give them some helpful information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to showing the videos, Joanna answers any non-medical questions that she can, such as how to find parking and how to navigate around the hospital. \u201cEven just talking with them is re-assuring,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s also re-assuring for them to know that I\u2019ve been through part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had cancer three years ago,\u201d she explains. \u201cLuckily, I had surgery and 16 rounds of radiation, with no chemo. I understand what they\u2019re going through, and I love giving them the help that we give them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joanna has been volunteering at the hospital since she moved to Ottawa in 2016. With hospital restrictions lifting, she is happy to return to volunteering in person at the Breast Health Centre. For 15 years, she has also volunteered with Look Good Feel Better<\/a>, a global program that helps women with cancer manage the appearance-related effects of cancer and its treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are re-building our volunteer services slowly and will open a few opportunities every few months, so please check the website regularly for updates. We look forward to welcoming our community back into the hospital to help improve the patient experience! Visit our volunteer page <\/a>for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A cancer diagnosis is a life-changing event marked by uncertainty. Though each patient\u2019s journey is different, volunteer Joanna Reid and The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s Chemo Teach program give patients beginning chemotherapy an overview of what they can expect from their treatment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":71632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[480,184],"class_list":["post-71631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-tomorrows","tag-compassion","tag-volunteers"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Feeling inspired?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Meet more of our inspiring volunteers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n