From survivor to supporter: Peer volunteers bring hope to patients recovering from stroke
“Every time I volunteer, my heart feels so full,” beams Kim, right before paying her weekly visit to patients at our Civic Campus.
In the early days after a stroke, the road ahead can seem overwhelming for both patients and their loved ones. Having support from someone who’s walked that path can make a world of difference.
“I had a stroke about 12 years ago in Whitby,” recalls Kim Docherty-Smith. “During my hospital stay, a man named Ken came to visit me and my husband. He had also experienced a stroke and had recovered. It was just nice to know someone who had been through the same thing and went on to live a fulfilling life.”
Today, Kim is paying that kindness forward. As a volunteer with March of Dimes Canada’s After Stroke Hospital Peer Connections program at The Ottawa Hospital, she visits our inpatients who have experienced a recent stroke. With warmth and empathy, she offers them and their loved ones encouragement and emotional support, helping to make the recovery journey a little easier.
Spreading hope across the Champlain region
In late 2024, the Champlain Regional Stroke Network at The Ottawa Hospital, in partnership with March of Dimes Canada, introduced the After Stroke Hospital Peer Connections Program at our hospital, as well as at Bruyère Health, Cornwall Community Hospital and Pembroke Regional Hospital.
Like Kim, every volunteer understands the challenges and triumphs of life after a stroke. To empower patients and their families during this critical time in their lives, volunteers draw on their own lived experiences as either stroke survivors or caregivers of survivors.
“Sometimes, a little bit of hope is what they need,” says Kim. “A lot of the time, patients just need to know you’re there — it makes them feel better to just have someone in the room who’s been through what they’re going through. And for families, when they see someone who’s pulled through, that gives them hope too.”
Find support
If you know someone staying at our hospital who has recently experienced a stroke and could benefit from peer support, please contact the stroke unit’s social worker for more details and to arrange a visit.
Give support
Together, we can make the journey to recovery a little less overwhelming and a lot more hopeful. If you have lived experience as a stroke survivor or as a caregiver of someone who has had a stroke, the After Stroke Hospital Peer Connections program welcomes you to apply to become a peer volunteer.
