Guidelines for Volunteers
Introduction
The Simms/Mann - UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology at UCLA is a special place that offers an array of services to help patients optimize their wellness and live with the best quality of life possible. We help patients and their family members face the challenges brought about by cancer and its treatments. Our programs are designed to give people a sense of control over the changes that are taking place through one-on-one counseling, group support, guidance from integrative medicine physicians on nutrition, dietary supplements and complementary medicine, and informational sessions. We serve as patient liaisons and advocates within the medical care community, encouraging an understanding of the ways in which an individual's dignity, wellness and quality of life can be preserved. Our efforts are aimed at helping individuals feel safe, empowered and strong. We strive to take care of the whole person, not just the disease.
Our volunteers are an important resource for us. They help us provide services beyond the time constraints of our staff. We look for volunteers who demonstrate a commitment to helping individuals with cancer and who may or may not be survivors themselves. We consider all our volunteers to be important extensions of our staff and, therefore, ask them to support our mission and goals and to understand our expectations.
Volunteer Categories
We recruit volunteers in the following categories, for which general descriptions have been provided. Additional and more specific policies and guidelines have been prepared for certain aspects of the program, which will be made available at the time of training sessions or follow-up interviews.
Patient Contact/Retail Volunteer
Assists in the Reflections boutique and consultation suite.
Office Volunteer
Assists with a variety of office tasks and distribution of our literature at all UCLA oncology sites throughout the Westwood Campus and Los Angeles.
Resource Volunteer
Assists with organization and maintenance of the library and web site.
Events Volunteer
Assists with special events, including providing information to patients about the Center and program and fund-raising activities.