Costa del Sol Hospital trains 40 new volunteers to accompany patients and their families

Accompanying, listening, and being there for those who need it most also requires preparation. For this reason, the Costa del Sol Hospital celebrated a new in-person edition, the first of 2026, of its Hospital Volunteer Course, in which about 40 people participated. Its goal is to train, guide, and empower individuals interested in providing emotional support and companionship to patients and their families. Beyond personal commitment, this technical and human training is "essential," as highlighted in a statement, to ensure patient safety and compliance with health protocols. Therefore, it is a mandatory requirement to carry out volunteer action within the hospital environment with the necessary guarantees. Furthermore, they point out that with this initiative the hospital "demonstrates its commitment" to the various programs that have been developing in all centers thanks to the different agreements with platforms, associations, and NGOs in this area of influence. During the first day, the Deputy Director of Accessibility and Citizen Attention, Nieves Bel, explained during her speech the general aspects of the hospital as well as the Rights and Duties of the patients. Then, both the block head and the section head of this area, Álvaro Mejías and Carlos Ojeda, informed about the functioning of the Accessibility and Citizen Attention units, respectively. The session ended with the participation of the social worker from the center, Judith Simón, who offered a talk on Social Skills and Communication. On the second day, the coordinator of the Hospital Volunteer Program of the Marbella Volunteer Platform, Sophie Anne Piuri, showed the general aspects of Volunteering and Voluntary Action, and then, the social worker from HUCS, Ana Rubio, explained what the hospital's volunteer program consists of. Finally, the nurses from the Preventive Medicine unit, Pilar Gavira and Francisca Fontalva, presented the standard recommendations and isolation precautions for patients at risk in the hospital. After the training, the hospital wanted to "recognize and thank the great work of all the volunteers and convey our joy and satisfaction for being able to continue collaborating in such a committed way with the patients, their families, and society in general." In total, the Costa del Sol University Hospital has more than 60 people who participate, altruistically, in the various volunteer programs provided in its centers as a source of social support for hospitalized people, who are admitted occasionally and do not receive visits, or suffer some type of limitation in their social support network and need other people to be able to leave their isolation and social difficulty. "Loneliness is a factor that very negatively influences the recovery of patients' health," they warn. Therefore, they insist that the volunteer programs converge in hospitals two basic elements: the effort of the professionals and the solidarity of the volunteers "to ensure that every patient who finds themselves in one of these situations finds the necessary support to not feel alone, be accompanied, and alleviate their situation of need." The volunteer activity is possible thanks to the collaboration agreements signed between the Costa del Sol University Hospital and the High Resolution Center of Specialties (CARE) in Mijas and the Volunteer entities in this area of influence, which include: The Marbella Volunteer Platform, the Spanish Association Against Cancer, the Association of Laryngectomized and Voice Mutilated, Red Cross, Associations of Rehabilitated Alcoholics (San Pedreña Association, ARAMA, GACAR...) and the Association of Volunteer Interpreters of the Costa del Sol (AVICS).