VOLUNTEER
Hospice Volunteer
Be a Part of Our Hospice Team
Hospice relies on a team approach to care. The patient and family are the center of the team.
Volunteers are a vital part of the Hospice Care Team.
As a hospice volunteer, you need to:
- Commit the time to volunteer
- Be dependable
- Be patient
- Be a listener, and comfortable in silence
- Know your strengths, your limits, and when to say no
- Be non-judgmental
- Accept that needs can be physical, emotional and/or spiritual
- Respect all beliefs and religious customs
Hospice Volunteer Opportunities
Direct Patient Care Volunteers
Visiting patients and their families at home, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, inpatient hospice units provides a friendly visit or respite for caregivers; accompany a patient to sit outside or attend a program; read aloud; listen to memories; bring a smile to someone's day.
Alternative/Complementary Care Volunteers
Art therapy, Aromatherapy, Reiki
Volunteers with a current Massage Therapy
license may provide friendly touch and massage to patients and their families.
Music Therapy: Singing or playing a musical instrument.
Student Intern Volunteers
Meet educational requirements for on-the-job experience while providing care to patients and families. Examples: social work, counseling, chaplaincy, nursing, nursing assistants, physician assistants, business schools, massage therapy, community job programs.
Vigil Volunteers
Help to ensure that no patient dies alone by being present at the final moments of a patient's life.
Pet Therapy Volunteers
Screened and trained pets and their volunteer owners visit patients and provide socialization, comfort, life review, etc.
Community Information & Recruitment
Speak in the community on topics related to end-of-life care, in the process recruiting volunteers.
Administrative Volunteers
Provides support in the office: filing, preparing mailings, data entry, phone support, special projects.
Life Review Volunteers
Reminisce and/or record a patient's life stories, perhaps presenting the family with a legacy CD.
Spiritual Care Volunteers
Work with the Hospice Chaplain in addressing spiritual issues at the end of life: meaning, faith, life review, issues related to loss, loneliness, etc.
Personal Pampering Volunteers
Trained volunteers apply lotion, polish nails and otherwise raise patient's esteem.
Hair Care: Volunteers with a current cosmetology license may provide haircuts, shampoos and styling to patients and families.
Telephone Assurance Volunteers
Make supportive phone calls to patients and their families or to bereaved family members following a death.
Bereavement Volunteers
Visits, phone calls, support groups, memorial services and send bereavement mailings.
Reach out to our Hospice Volunteer Coordinator
I want to be a part of the Harborside Hospice Team