Queen’s University pilot project aims to reduce isolation among terminally ill patients

The program is inspired by doctors’ experiences in India. KINCARES involves training volunteers to visit people weekly in the final months of their lives and doing everything from making them tea to taking them for walks to ministering to their emotional needs. The main goal is to reduce patients' social isolation, which can have an impact on the timing of their trajectory through the medical system. The Kingston, Ont. pilot will last three months and the team will assess the potential to try the program elsewhere.