(Scroll down for Class Notes)

General Information about Training:
The primary purpose of The Pilgrim Project is to recruit and train volunteers and then to match them up with patients and to supervise their free voounteer service.  In particular Pilgrim... 

• provide people who have been recruited from the local community with some background regarding caregiving for people living with a life-threatening illness,
• match them with waiting patients,
• provide supervision and support for the caregiving relationship,
• arrange the opportunity for peer support for the volunteer caregiver
• and to provide the caregiver with access to professional expertise when the patient's situation seems to require it. 
• The Training Course is taught in English.
• Pilgrim provides both French speaking and English spekaing volunteers, as well as some who speak other languages.

Those who volunteer for this work of caregiving typically feel within themselves the motivational call to provide emotional support to other people who are terminally ill. While sometimes their patients are members of their own famaily, the usual situation is that they are willing to provide such care for people who are not members of their own family.

The specific target population of Pilgrim are those who are living through their last days. They are often alone and in desperate need for attention from a non- judgmental caregiver. They need someone who is willing to make personal time for them.

To prepare these volunteer caregivers for their task, The Pilgrim Project offers them a free 6 week training course, conducted either in our classroom at our offices in Dorval, at the Betty Russell Volunteer Bureau, located at 750 Dawson Avenue, Dorval. [211 bus up Dorval Avenue to Dawson Avenue from Dorval terminus.] or at our location downtown at 2520 Lionel Groulx, located on the south side of the street,one block east from the front of the Lionel Groux Metro.

The six general topics(see below) covered in the training program reflect our many years of experience in providing caregiving to the dying.

NB: The Pilgrim Project was formerly allied with another charity, The Pilgrim PAB Course which provides a ten week training course for independant caregivers who then sought contract work in the community. Marguerite LaFlèche B.N., R.N., who taught this course, succumbed to cancer and the course was forced to close its doors. The new situation required a restructuring and an upgrade in funding. But repeated requests for funding to the Quebec Ministry of Health have been refused. So the course has had remained closed. 

The Pilgrim Project offers trained volunteers a peer support group run by volunteer professionals. It meets every month or two months depending upon the current group. It is designed to provide opportunity for caregivers to reflect on their activity with their patients within the helpful context of other volunteer caregivers.




Training Courses

The training program is given from 1 to 3 times a year, depending on the demand. The Location of the course is either on the West-Island (Dorval) or on Lionel Groulx in Montreal (Metro Lionel Groulx).

The English speaking teacher is Dr. Brendan Cavanaugh. The course in not currently given in French. However, anyone who thinks they can follow the English lectures are welcome.

The course is 6 evenings long and each lecture is 3 hours in length and is held between 7 and 10 p.m. usually on Tuesday  or Wednesday evenings although this is subject to change and the convenience of the students.




Topics

NEWSLETTER: There is a Newsletter for the course, The Pilgrim's Progress.

ARTICLES: Index of articles is the sections Article Index

• 
  INTRODUCTION: The History of Caregiving, the History of the Hospice Movement and the History of the Pilgrim Project are presented.
• History of Caregiving
• History of the Hospice Movement
• History of The Pilgrim Project
• Relevant History Articles
  
  MEDICAL: The people who seek out the services of the Pilgrim Project tend to have certain diseases, Cancer being the most frequently encountered illness. The volunteer student is presented with an overview of the nature of the diseases which are most commonly encountered in this hospice work, together with a review of their usual causes, treatments, and management techniques.
• Cancer
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Alzheimer
• AIDS
• and other diseases
• Relevant Medical Articles
  
  PSYCHOLOGICAL: The volunteer is acquainted with some of the major psychological changes which should be watched for and expected in patients at the terminal stage of disease. Importantly, there is a review of the psychological features of loss and of the way people generally tend to cope with dramatic challenges to their integrity as a living person.
• Psychological
• Bonding
• Emotions
• Loss
• Grief
• Grieving and its response
• Relevant Psychological Articles
  
  PHILOSOPHICAL: In recognition of the kinds of topics terminally ill persons often look to discuss, there is an overview of major interpretation of the meaning of life and they way people tend to apply these general concepts to their own lives.
• Philosophy
• Concepts of Death
• Meaning of Life
• Relevant Philosophical Articles
  
  SPIRITUAL: Most of the people we encounter have a period during their last days during which they want to express their views on God. Pilgrim does not accept any form of proselytizing from its volunteers. The role the volunteer is to be supportive of the topics the patients want to discuss. This section is meant to give an overview of the role major religions play for the terminal patient.
• Spiritual
• Virtue
• Sin
• Judgment
• Afterlife
• Relevant Spiritual Articles
  
  SOCIAL: This section reviews the role of the volunteer hospice worker, which is a division of social work. The resources available in the community are reviewed and the important of practical experience in this area is described and exemplified.
• History of Social Work
• Social Work in Quebec
• Quebec Institutions: CLSC, Hospitals, Residences
• Community Institutions: VON, Pilgrim
• Relevant Social Service Articles
  
  
  
  
  Support
  
  We have learned over the years that it is very important for volunteers who are working with patients to have the opportunity to talk to other volunteers with patients. Consequently we have two groups, one which meets Downtown and one which meets on the West Island. Volunteer professionals run both groups. These support groups run every month or every two months depending upon the availability of the current participants. The structure is that of informal case discussion. The volunteers have the opportunity to discuss their cases, taking care to preserve the anonymity of the patients at all times.
  
  The benefits are that the insights gained by experience can be shared; there is opportunity for mutual encouragement and support; and there isopportunity for the individual volunteers to vent their own feelings within a very safe and accepting context.