We are an independent community group of volunteers who have been providing bedside singing support to inpatients and their families at Victoria Hospice since August 2007.
Victoria Hospice Rooftop Garden
This group was co-founded in October 2006 by Marnie Lamb who is a trained Victoria Hospice volunteer, and Pashta MaryMoon who has a background in palliative spiritual care.
Marnie noticed that she along with other Victoria Hospice volunteers often spontaneously sang to patients during their work there. This observation sparked the creation of the Bedside Singers group, with a goal of formalizing the practice of singing at bedsides and setting ethical guidelines. After Pashta left the program in Fall 2008, Marnie continued to lead the group and guide its future development.
We provide regular twice-a-month group practices so that interested singers can learn appropriate repertoire. We also offer several role-playing workshops over the training period to help new singers develop the special kind of sensitivity that is required to do this work.
Songs of Passage and the Victoria Hospice Society
In August 2007, the Bedside Singers began a joint bedside singing pilot project with the Victoria Hospice Society under the name Songs of Passage.
Since then, bedside singing has become an established support service on the inpatient unit. Our trained volunteers offer bedside singing to Victoria Hospice patients and their families over a regular weekly schedule of shifts. We do our work there under the supervision of the Music Therapist.
Experience has clearly shown us that it is best to have no more than two Bedside Singers present during each patient visit. We have developed a system of mentoring, so that all new singers are initially paired with someone who is very experienced in doing bedside singing shifts on the unit. Mentoring allows us to ensure the well-being of patients and their families, while also offering incoming singers the best hands-on training that is available.
There is no cost to patients or families for our bedside singing. However, tax-deductible donations can be made to the Victoria Hospice and Palliative Care Foundation, if desired.
The Future of Bedside Singing
Although our main focus continues to be providing bedside singing at Victoria Hospice, we began a new pilot project on the Inpatient Oncology unit at Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital in January 2010.
Beyond maintaining bedside singing services at both Victoria Hospice and RJH Inpatient Oncology, we are also hoping to eventually expand our training program by offering weekend workshops in other cities to reach singers outside of Victoria who may wish to do this kind of supportive work within their own communities.
We have established an ongoing relationship with the Threshold choir by joining their on-line network of bedside singing group directors from across Canada and the United States. There is regular sharing on this private site about the ethical and operational issues of running volunteer bedside singing groups. The ability to pool our experiences over time will help to guide the future evolution of bedside singing.
Contacting Us
We would be delighted to hear from you if you have any questions about the practice of bedside singing, or if you would like some support in setting up a similar group in your area.
Please click here contact us if you wish to get in touch with us.
