“There are a lot of things patients aren’t aware of, and they need somebody to back them up,” he says.
Although he completed consumer representative training with HCCA, his growing involvement with Heart Support Australia soon became his primary focus.
After his surgery, Bob felt there were important things nobody had told him about, including the emotional and psychological impacts of recovery. Looking for support, he joined Heart Support Australia in 2010 and eventually became a Hospital Patient Visitor, providing bedside peer support to people with heart disease and those recovering from heart surgery.
Over the years, Bob helped expand the hospital visitor program, trained new volunteers and served as National Hospital Patient Visitor Instructor. He is also the Peer Support Group Leader for Canberra. Some of the people he meets at the bedside later join his peer support group, where they can connect with others who understand what they are going through. HCCA has also supported the group by providing health literacy sessions on Advance Care Planning, which were very well received by participants.
“Peer support groups are a safe place for heart patients to talk about whatever they want and get their questions answered”, he says.
Bob recalls a nurse thanking him for “doing what we can’t do” because he could share insights from his own lived experience of heart surgery. Through hospital visits, cardiac rehabilitation talks and peer support groups, Bob helps fill information gaps, answer practical questions and reassure patients and their families.
For Bob, this work closely aligns with HCCA’s mission. “People need to know there is help out there and that they’re entitled to have their questions answered,” he says.
“Don’t struggle alone. Reach out, ask questions and talk to someone who understands. Sometimes, that conversation can make all the difference”, he says. | 
