The Changing Face of Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care

Volunteers have a long been involved in supporting the delivery of palliative care. Indeed in some countries, the range and quality of hospice and palliative care services depends on the involvement of volunteers.

Hospice and palliative care services and volunteering are changing. As society develops, so too does volunteering. Volunteers have growing expectations of organizations, and increasingly seek roles that meet their needs and aspirations, rather than fitting in with organizational approaches. As hospice and palliative care services experience increasing and changing demands for their services due to aging populations with complex healthcare needs, we need to recognize that volunteers have a vital role to play in supporting the delivery of services of the future.

The Changing Face of Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care explores the complex phenomenon that is volunteering in hospice and palliative care in different countries. It considers how and why volunteering is changing, through the contributions of authors from Western and Eastern Europe, North America, Australia, Africa, and India. It reflects on the influence of culture and organisational contexts, in addition to management approaches, legislative, and political influences, highlighting factors that contribute to the success of volunteering.

Contributing to knowledge and understanding in the field of volunteering in hospice and palliative care internationally, this book highlights the factors that contribute to the success of volunteering models, allowing readers to see possibilities for change and find new ideas for innovative practice in their own setting.

Ros Scott, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Dundee, UK and Co-chair, EAPC Task Force on Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care, ,Steven Howlett, Deputy Director, Roehampton University Business School, London, UK

Ros Scott is a researcher and voluntary sector consultant with a background in organisational development, research and the development of volunteering and of palliative care organisations. She is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Dundee.

Co-Chair of the European Association for Palliative Care Task Force on Volunteering, she is also Vice-Chair of a Scottish bereavement charity and serves on the Scottish Advisory Board of a UK palliative care organisation.

She writes about and also presents on hospice and palliative care volunteering both in the UK and internationally. She has also received a Lifetime Achievement Award for work in hospice volunteering.


Steven Howlett is a Deputy Director at Roehampton Business School where he teaches undergraduate and post graduate courses in management and ethics. Previously he was Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Volunteering research where he completed many studies on volunteering.

1. The modern context of volunteering, Steven Howlett
2. The modern context of palliative care, Sheila Payne and Sara Morris
3. Volunteering in hospice and palliative care in the UK, Ros Scott
4. Volunteering in hospice and palliative care in Austria, Leena Pelttari and Anna H. Pissarek Austria
5. Volunteering in hospice and palliative care in the Netherlands, Anne Goossensen and Jos Somsen
6. Volunteering in hospice and palliative care in Germany, Michaela Hesse and Lukas Radbruch
7. Volunteering in hospice and palliative care in Poland and Eastern Europe, Piotr Krakowiak and Leszek Pawlowski
8. Volunteering in hospice palliative care in Canada, Stephen Claxton-Oldfield
9. Volunteering in USA, Greg Schneider
10. Volunteering in hospice and palliative care in Australia, Alex Huntir
11. Volunteering in hospice and palliative care in Africa, Fatia Kiyange
12. Volunteering in hospice and palliative care in India, Anil Kumar Paleri and Libby Sallnow
13. Volunteering and the challenges of change, Nigel Hartley
14. Volunteering and community, Libby Sallnow and Heather Richardson
15. In our own words, Ros Scott
16. Pulling it all together, Steven Howlett and Ros Scott