One could argue Elizabeth Black’s volunteerism has come full circle.
The Burnaby resident first volunteered at the age of 16 as a gardener for seniors. She would help the elderly with weeding, with tidying up flower beds and anything that required getting her hands – and clothes – a little dirty.
“That was eye-opening,” Black said of her first volunteer gig, adding she also volunteered in a home of senior Catholic nuns. “It was hard to see older people. By that time, they were physically and mentally not well. I didn’t really understand it. I didn’t understand what was going on. I remember feeling quite sad about it.”
Today, Black volunteers as a senior peer counsellor through the Burnaby Seniors Outreach Services Society. The program offers free, confidential, one-to-one counselling services for people 55-plus who may have anxiety, are coping with the loss of a loved one, or are simply lonely. Counsellors direct seniors to community services and help them find solutions to their problems.
Volunteers must first go through 54 hours of training in communications, listening and counselling skills before taking on clients. Black, who had a 30-year career as a mental health nurse at Coquitlam’s Riverview Hospital, took the courses four years ago.
“I was looking for something that would make personal connections with people,” the 61-year-old said. “I didn’t know what it would involve, but I knew it was an opportunity (to help).”
Black recalled she was “a little apprehensive” with her first client.
“You’re going towards a house, a doorway, and you’re not sure what the person’s going to be like,” she said. “I was surprised how meaningful it was to both him and myself, our get-togethers. By the end of the experience, he really looked forward to me coming because his wife already passed.”
More than 10 seniors die by suicide every week in Canada and around 1,000 older adults are admitted to hospitals each year as a consequence of intentional self-harm, according to the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. Seniors are the most at-risk demographic, with men over the age of 65 the most at risk.
“I think for some seniors, they may experience different things as they get older, loss being one of them; loss of some of their own abilities, loss of family members, friends, loss of their career; they’re no longer working. Maybe their family has moved away, maybe there are problems within the family,” explained Black.
One of the biggest rewards so far, according to Black, has been the training she’s received.
“We’re always getting speakers in every month; you’re always learning something,” she said. “I always had pretty good listening skills, but I think I’ve sharpened those, really tuning into what people are saying and trying to get the meaning behind the words.”
Lori Rank, the peer counselling program manager, couldn’t agree more. She, too, also had to take the course.
“I speak to my friends differently; I speak to my daughter differently. You learn to be much more empathetic,” she told the NOW.
Rank said by giving the society’s volunteers the proper training, clients are left empowered.
“They say, ‘Oh, I’ve now been validated. Somebody’s actually heard what I’m saying, and I can do something about this.’”
The training also includes lots of problem solving and role play, tools Rank said are important when dealing with vulnerable seniors.
“We don’t have to sit there and wipe their face all the time. We can show them this is a resource that is great for them, and we can actually help them make the call. It’s empowering them and letting them know they’re still a valued citizen and that they’ve got something to give,” she said. “Knocking on a stranger’s door isn’t a normal thing, but we prepare ourselves, we know what we want to do. We want to reach their heart and tell them somebody cares.”
Volunteers needed
The program manager said the outreach society is in need of 10 new senior volunteers for its peer counselling program.
Up to 11 new files land on her desk every month, and not everyone can be paired up.
“I usually have someone sitting there (on the waiting list) for a couple of months,” said Rank.
She added Black is an exception to the rule (Black takes on multiple clients), and her volunteer cohort of 23 often take just one or two seniors.
“Not everyone is like Elizabeth,” Rank said with a smile.
To learn more or to get involved with the senior peer counselling program, visit www.bsoss.org or call 604-291-2258.
