Volunteers find meaningful connections through Minds in Motion® Online

This National Volunteer Week, we join organizations across Canada to applaud the volunteers who enable us to organize events and provide support to people affected by dementia. From April 25-30, read stories shared by volunteers, Society staff and clients that celebrate the positive impact volunteers have on our communities.

In the months following the pandemic’s onset, volunteers across the country were looking for safe, accessible and meaningful opportunities to continue providing support to their community. Harleen Hans, a volunteer at the Alzheimer Society of B.C., felt there was more she could do to help others during the pandemic. She says, “I missed having meaningful conversations and felt disconnected from others but Minds in Motion® Online really changed that.”

Volunteering as a Minds in Motion® Online facilitator is a great way to support communities across the province as the program offers a unique opportunity to interact with and build deeper relationships with each participant and volunteer.

Volunteers create warm, inclusive and engaging environments that facilitate conversation and encourage participation. Harleen says, “You get to meet and learn about amazing people, then introduce them to other participants with similar life experiences and interests.” For Harleen, it’s encouraging to see participants benefit from the social connections they have in the sessions – while some participants go on to form new friendships outside of Minds in Motion®.

The online format provides some additional opportunities for connection, with the intimacy of getting to know someone in their home surroundings. Harleen explains, “With a virtual program, we can take a tour of someone’s living room or see photos and objects that are a part of their stories and dementia journeys that would normally be difficult to present in-person.”

For Harleen, the pandemic is a reminder that people living with dementia and their caregivers need our support more than ever. “Even making one participant smile can give you a powerful sense of fulfillment,” she adds.

For anyone considering virtual volunteer engagement, Harleen shares an encouraging message. “A community based on support can be successfully established both in-person and virtually,” she says. “Any amount of support we can offer to others can have a meaningful impact.”