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Trained volunteers and staff provide practical and emotional support to hospice patients and their families facing the end of life. Our volunteers respond to a wide variety of requests for assistance. Volunteers become an important part of the patient and family’s circle of care. Volunteers provide:
- companionship
- respite for family and caregivers
- help with meal preparation, light housekeeping, gardening,
walking a dog, writing letters, and in many other practical ways determined
by the needs of the patient and family
- assistance with errands
- transportation to appointments and for outings,
etc.
Hospice Volunteer Training
All hospice volunteers must complete a ten-week, 30-hour training before they participate in patient care. This training covers such topics as the philosophy of hospice, personal death awareness, communication skills, physical and comfort care, psychosocial issues of the dying process, spiritual dynamics, caring for the dead and bereavement. Our staff matches volunteers with hospice patients and continues to supervise and support both volunteers and patients throughout their time together.
Six to eight-week support groups are offered several times throughout the year to those who have experienced the death of a loved one. In the safety of a small, professionally facilitated group, people discover the healing power of sharing the thoughts, feelings, and insights they may have in common with others who recognize and understand their pain.
Bereavement Support Programs
During times of loss, bereavement support can help people endure the normal, yet difficult, process of grief. Our Bereavement Care Program provides a variety of bereavement services which include:
- One on one support from trained bereavement care staff
and volunteers
- Grief support groups for adults, teens, and children
- Phoenix (a monthly, social, pot-luck dinner gathering
of widowed persons)
- Consultation with area schools, religious communities,
businesses and organizations who request educational and/or emotional
help during times of loss
- Referrals to professional community resources
- An annual Candle Lighting Service of Remembrance for
Hospice families and community members
- Specialized groups upon request, and with sufficient
interest, for:
- Survivors of Suicide
- Bereaved Parents
- Handling the Holidays
Read about some of our offerings.
Read a brochure on Bereavement Support Programs [1.7 MB pdf]
Public Education and Outreach
As a community resource we have a positive influence on cultural attitudes about death and grief by offering hospice and bereavement trainings, public education events, a free lending library of books, tapes, and videos, and distribution of resource materials upon request—all free of charge to the public. We are available to speak to local businesses, agencies and organizations regarding end-of-life and grief issues.
Wellspring Hospice Singers
Music has been called the universal language of the soul. It can be an especially powerful way to soothe people at the end of life. Wellspring is a group of volunteers available to sing for patients wherever they are living- in their living rooms, at bedsides, or in community care homes. Available anytime to anyone on the hospice and palliative care program, when a patient is nearing death, they may help the patient in their passage by “singing them over.”
Complementary Care
For the past few years, and with the help of grant-funding, we have been able to offer to patients and their families such complementary care options as:
- Hypnotherapy
- Massage/healing touch
- Energy work
- Aromatherapy
- Acupuncture
- Expressive Arts
These modalities have been shown to enhance a person’s quality of life and provide noticeable comfort and stress relief to patients and their families. We contract with area practitioners who are gifted with these particular skills and who have a special desire to augment the care of hospice patients and families.