Hospice Care of the Northwest Benefits

Volunteering with Hospice Care of the Northwest is just like being a "good neighbor". If one of your neighbors was ill you would go visit for a while every so often. You might just sit and talk, or you might play cards, or watch TV, or discuss the day's current events. That's exactly what it is like to be a hospice volunteer.

Volunteers are an essential part of the team caring for the hospice patients and their families. Volunteers are trained based on their interests and experiences, and once trained, they can choose the areas in which they wish to participate. Types of Volunteers...

Direct Patient Care:

These Volunteers provide emotional support and companionship to hospice patients and their families. Visits are made to the patient's location (i.e. nursing home, extended care facility, or private home) and time is spent interacting with the patient. You might just sit and talk, or play cards, or watch a favorite TV program, or talk about current events. Visits usually last from 15 minutes to a couple of hours. Volunteers do not provide any medical care.

Office Volunteer:

These Volunteers provide assistance in the hospice office. They do not come in direct contact with hospice patients. They do interact with the hospice staff and provide assistance with a variety of office tasks.

The "Pet Team Program" is a very popular volunteer activity. The pet owner and their pet(s) (dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, etc.) visit hospice patients in nursing home and extended care facilities on a regular basis. Visits may also be made to private homes. Hospice patients and other residents are allowed to touch and pet the animals.

Arts/Entertainment:

These Volunteers may be individuals, ensembles, or entire bands, orchestras and/or choruses. Musical entertainment is a popular and much appreciated activity in a nursing home/extended care facility setting. All ages, from grade school to adult can easily participate in this type of volunteering.

How much time must you devote? That is up to you. You tell us how much time you have to devote to your hospice volunteer assignments and we'll design a program that will fit into your schedule. We will do all within our power to make your hospice volunteering convenient and rewarding for you.

Is training required? Yes, it is. The length of training will depend on the type of volunteering you are interested in doing. We will be happy to give you complete details when you contact us.

One of life's greatest rules - you can not hold a torch to light another's path without also brightening your own!

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