What is a Hospice volunteer?
Our volunteers, who are at least 18 years old, are caring people who offer emotional support to a SJH HospiceCare patient and family.
They include those who can communicate and listen well in addition to others who support SJH HospiceCare through clerical work, fund-raising and community education,
A “typical” hospice volunteer is a person striving to add a new dimension of meaning to his or her life.
How Can A Volunteer Help?
SJH HospiceCare volunteers help in a variety of ways, including:
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Providing companionship to patients and families.
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Supportive contact through phone calls or personal notes.
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Transportation, deliveries, errands.
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Staying with the patient to offer periods of rest for the family.
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Clerical duties, including filing, data entry, photocopying and helping prepare bulk mailings.
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Bereavement support to hospice families.
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Community education and fund-raising.
Training To Become A SJH HospiceCare Volunteer
There are three categories of volunteers, each with training appropriate to the duties the volunteer will be asked to perform.
- Patient care volunteers participate in a Ten-week (20 hours) volunteer training program. Topics covered in this program include:
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Concepts of death, dying and grief.
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Understanding family relationships, life stages and the impact of progressive illness.
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How to care for the physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs of the patient and family.
- Clerical volunteers
- Bereavement volunteers
What Will SJH HospiceCare Expect From Me?
The basic requirements of a HospiceCare volunteer include:
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Completion of the required volunteer training.
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An ability to maintain patient and family confidentiality.
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An emotional maturity, compassion, and sensitivity towards hospice patients and families.
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A non-judgmental attitude.
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An ability to work as a member of the hospice interdisciplinary team.
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Reliability.
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Access to independent transportation.
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Participation in a least on volunteer activity per calendar year.
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Annual attendance at volunteer continuing education programs.
Speaker Bureau Volunteer
Tell your community about Hospice. Far too many people in our community don’t know or understand what Hospice care is about. Please help us educate our community by becoming a member of our speaker’s bureau.