The volunteer service at the Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Justine (CHUSJ) consists of 350 volunteers, representing about 80,000 volunteer hours each year. CHUSJ volunteers play an important role when children experience anxiety or have special needs.

With the old system, accessing Volunteer Services was complicated and, as a result, the service was underutilized by sectors and patients. In 2019, approximately 60% of volunteer requests went unanswered due to several issues related to the communication tool in place. This caused undue stress for applicants and patients’ families. Moreover, the system did not make optimal use of a volunteer’s time—half of which would be spent looking for a request. In short, there would be outstanding requests that volunteers weren’t even aware of, creating dissatisfaction on both sides. In an effort to increase positive impacts by volunteers and to make patient and family stays more comfortable, the BenéClic app was rolled out in May 2021. This app, available on iPhone and Android, makes it possible to easily request support from Volunteer Services and to receive confirmation in real time of the request’s acceptance along with the volunteer’s profile and photo, while facilitating a natural match between the patient’s interests and the volunteer’s comfort zone.

BénéClic therefore improves accessibility to Volunteer Services by responding to the vast majority of requests and maximizes volunteer availability and presence.

Project submitted by Dominique Paré, Head of Volunteer Services

Other contributors: Alexandre Leclair, Performance Advisor; Nancy Pelletier, Volunteer; Nancy Tondreau, Recreation Technician; Vicky Lemay, Briand-Jacques Kpanou, IT Project Managers; Émilie Trempe, Communications Advisor; Félicia Faucher, Graphic Arts Technician; Evi Jane Kay Molloy, Graphic Designer; Chloé Roy-Dupuis, Head of Procurement; Guillaume Desmarais, Lawyer