Project Caring Hearts
Celebrate life!… but let’s talk about death too
Project Caring Hearts (PCH) is a student-led volunteer project by nursing undergraduate students from the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies (NUS Nursing), National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. PCH aims to raise awareness and directly impact the lives of palliative patients through befriending and legacy projects.
Currently, PCH is partnering with the HCA Hospice, the largest home hospice service as the team looks to expand their outreach and empower both their volunteers and patients to contribute positively to the palliative scene in Singapore.
PCH was conceptualised as there was little understanding about palliative care and the complexities surrounding death in Singapore. While the essence of healthcare is to heal, death and the palliative process are inevitable aspects that are always present. As such, PCH began from an intention to destigmatize death and to increase connection between different stakeholders to allow the process of death and dying to be meaningful, purposeful and with dignity.
The main mission of Project Caring Hearts is to add value to the stakeholders they serve and the palliative scene at large. The project members hope to create precious and lasting memories with the patients they serve. Additionally, the project strives to inspire change in the volunteers by empowering them to be agents of change through their service, influence, and communication. Ultimately, the goal is to make a long-lasting impact on the palliative care scene and encourage open conversations about the end of life with dignity.
Project Caring Hearts hosts a number of events to raise awareness of the palliative scene besides home visits. Our most notable events include visits to The Life Celebrant and the organisation of a Death Cafe.
The Life Celebrant, a funeral parlour, offers a service called Showers of Love which allows family members to perform a final act of service for their dearly departed. PCH taps on its ongoing collaboration to organise annual visits to The Life Celebrant. Volunteers are allowed to observe the Showers of Love and this allows them to gain a deeper understanding on the process of death.
Death Cafe is the hallmark of Project EDEN’s advocacy efforts where the members organize a session and invite NUS students to converse and navigate the taboo topics surrounding death. Participants and facilitators alike both gain new insights through this session and more importantly take home valuable call-to-actions to affect their own spheres in life.
Death Cafes have been running in various countries with the mission of eradicating the taboo surrounding death and normalizing conversations on the topic of death. Drawing inspiration from that, PCH organises a Death Cafe which is open to all NUS students in hopes of opening up discussions and empowering attendees to be vocal changemakers towards destigmatising death.
Find out more about Project Caring Hearts at www.instagram.com/nusprojectcaringhearts. Read on also to hear what our volunteers and beneficiaries have to say.
List of Local Projects
I would like to thank Project Caring Hearts volunteers on HCA’s behalf, in journeying with our patients at their end-of-life and bringing smiles to their faces. I really appreciate that the students have also been very helpful in planning for the themes and games for our signature Family Foto Fairs over the years, which has helped to bring families together for a day of fun and taking family portraits together. You all have brought so much joy to our patients and also help relieve caregivers in their stress.
Our patients enjoy having the students’ visits. We hope to continue to collaborate closely with the students in the years to come!
–Tan Zhenxiu, Senior Community Relations Executive HCA Hospice
Personally, I believe that Project Caring Hearts has impacted me greatly. First and foremost, it is a good platform for allowing me to create change in my own capacity. I appreciate the interactions I’ve had on my home visits and in learning about the patients I serve and the unique stories they tell. I also appreciate the team’s efforts in equipping me with the necessary skill sets and the opportunities for me to try new things.
Beyond the project, I think I have gained a deeper exposure to this scene I knew little about before and find myself more confident in speaking about end-of-life matters. Would highly recommend those interested to sign up to gain the same experience as I have!
–Yeow Yuheng
