A new training program has been established by Busselton Hospice Care Inc to help people with no prior health care experience to gain skills and knowledge to care for a very sick person at home.
The carer education program is currently open to all Western Australians and will be delivered by video teleconference during the COVID-19 pandemic.
BCHI chief executive officer Rosie Brown said it could be really hard for people caring for someone who was really sick at home.
"If a person has never done that before, knowing how to wash someone in bed or how to change the sheets if someone was still in the bed while protecting their own back, is hard.
"There are some tricks to try if someone is struggling with their own breathing or does not have much of an appetite or have other issues going on."
BCHI will run weekly training programs comprising of three 90 minute sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays starting from Monday April 20, 2020.
Ms Brown said the sessions covered all the things people needed to feel like they have the basic skills and knowledge to take care of someone with support from a health service visiting the home.
People wishing to register for the program should contact BCHI by phoning 9751 1642.
Ms Brown said it could also be hard for people caring for a sick person at home to be able to talk with people who were comfortable talking about death and dying.
BCHI have also setup a Community Connect program offering a service for people to talk with one of their volunteers who were trained and comfortable with the subject of death and dying.
The volunteers are available to help people who recently had a diagnosis, or for their carers, or those bereaved.
"We are also reaching out to anyone who is struggling with isolation as well, it is not a crisis phone line but if people feel like they really need to talk to another human being they can call us.
"We will connect them with one of our volunteers."