WMHS HOSPICE SERVICES OFFERING VOLUNTEER TRAINING

Western Maryland Health System’s Hospice Services Team is looking for volunteers. Opportunities include Patient and Family Support, Hospice Nursing Home Visitation, Bereavement, Organizational Support and “Hospice Helpers.”

Patient and Family Support Volunteers visit patients in their homes to provide companionship to patients and give family members a break from the burdens of twenty-four hour-a-day care giving. They may also run errands or assist with other household tasks.

Some hospice patients reside in local nursing homes or assisted living facilities and volunteers are asked to visit to provide companionship to the patient and support to their families.

Bereavement volunteers assist hospice to maintain contact with hospice families for a period of time after the death of their loved one. Contacts are made by mail, phone, visiting, attending the bereavement support group meetings and assisting with an annual remembrance service. Organizational Support volunteers assist with office tasks and special projects.

Hospice Helpers are volunteers who can be called upon to occasionally help with tasks such as small home repairs, legal assistance, cleaning, shopping, gardening, lawn care, haircuts by beauticians or barbers, cooking, baking, knitting, crocheting, sewing, crafts, playing a musical instrument or singing, reading to patients, videotaping or photography, and assisting with special patient celebration events. Teens - ages 14 and up, college students, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts or home school organizations may volunteer for hospice as community service.

All volunteers are required to attend an orientation session titled “Hospice 101”. It is a general overview of hospice philosophy along with information about hospice care today and the roles of each hospice team member. The training for Patient and Family Support and Hospice Nursing Home Visitation volunteers is a total of 16 hours. Bereavement volunteers will complete the same 16 hours of training with an additional three hours of training. The training is free but you must provide your own transportation. Classes will be offered both mornings and evenings and some Saturdays throughout the year.

Hospice also encourages local church groups and civic organizations to consider becoming involved with supporting their community friends and neighbors who are living through the advanced stages of a serious illness and elect to remain at home as much as they are able. A Hospice representative is available to speak to churches and community organizations about WMHS Hospice Services. Hospice will bring the training to the site of local churches and organizations if desired.

For further information about the next hospice volunteer training schedule beginning with orientation on February 26 and to obtain a volunteer application, call Jamie Daniels, RN, Hospice Volunteer Coordinator, at 301-723-6225 or by email jdaniels@wmhs.com.