This week is National Volunteer Week (15 – 21 May) where we acknowledge and celebrate “The Change Makers” that provide vital support to the Monash Health community.
We are grateful for the 286 volunteers that share their time across many Monash Health roles, such as ward ambassadors, guides, and spiritual care.
One such volunteer is Paul Reed.
In 2013, Paul’s life as he knew it changed forever. Out for a ride on his motorbike, Paul blacked out several times before scrambling into a nearby Harvey Norman for help. Paul had suffered a stroke, and spent the next four months as a patient at Kingston Centre’s North West 2 Ward.
While grateful for the compassionate care he received, Paul struggled to adjust to patient life. Simple acts like showering and toileting required assistance, and the slow road to recovery took its toll on his mental health. “There’s no room for dignity,” he said.
Paul found this experience difficult and isolating, and identified “a gap in post-stroke care”. After being discharged, Paul decided to use his lived experience to help other stroke patients.
Paul is now a regular volunteer back at North West 2 Ward, and provides peer support to other stroke survivors – or “strokies”, as he calls them.
“I realised that as a stroke survivor, I’d been given a new skillset that cannot be gained from reading a book or going to a lecture.”
With his first-hand insight, Paul helps patients grapple with the physical and mental challenges of stroke recovery. Having lived the experience makes Paul relatable, and he finds that patients open up to him and readily follow his advice. Conversely, he also helps nurses better understand the patient’s perspective, opening and strengthening the lines of communication all-round.
“Strokies will only speak openly with other strokies,” he says, and uses that connection to fully understand and guide the patients he talks with.
Paul Reed volunteers at North West 2 twice a week
Paul finds himself being requested by patients, families and nurses alike, to talk through issues and challenges with his calming and practical advice.
Vicky Vasilopoulos, Volunteer Coordinator at Dandenong, Kingston and Residential Aged Care, cannot speak highly enough of Paul’s contribution on the ward.
“Paul is a great listener and has a unique awareness and understanding when liaising with stroke patients,” she says.
“Paul clearly changes the lives of those affected by stroke, as he knows first-hand how it changed his life forever.”
These sentiments are echoed by Paul Ratcliffe, Nurse Manager at Kingston, who highly values Paul’s inspirational presence on the ward.
“He provides hope and reassurance to our patients. His disabilities are very visual, but he views this as an asset in supporting our stroke patients…[it shows] he has been down that road.”
Paul finds volunteering rewarding, knowing that his contributions are making a difference.
“The smallest changes can be life-changing,” he says, such as “relearning to tie shoelaces – it’s all about baby steps.”
Years on, Paul is still working through his own recovery. Rather than accepting any prognosis, Paul has defined his own post-stroke journey and has beaten the odds many times. From being told he may never walk or drive a car again, Paul now walks an average of 11,000 steps a day, and continues to make improvements.
“I refuse to accept this as my ‘new normal’…I am still crossing things off my list.”
Approved by Associate Professor, Anjali Dhulia, Chief Medical Officer