What is a Legacy Hospice Volunteer?
Volunteers are an essential part of the hospice philosophy of care that recognizes that dying is not just a medical event but a personal one as well. Volunteers are an important part of the hospice team that includes physicians, nurses, home health aides, chaplains and social workers. Volunteers play a key role in dignifying and de-institutionalizing the dying experience.
What do Legacy Hospice Volunteers do?
Our volunteers are caring, loving individuals who donate their time visiting patients and their families in homes and in the nursing home setting. Volunteers provide many aspects of support. Some patients need a hand to hold while others need a caring, attentive listener. Some volunteers help by brushing a patient's hair, or painting their nails just to let them know that their life matters and that every day they deserve to live a full life regardless of what tomorrow may bring.
Other support measures may include:
- Visiting
- Reading
- Taking a patient outside for some fresh air
- Having lunch or dinner with a patient
- Bringing music the patient enjoys to listen to
- Writing letters to family members
- Hospice Volunteers may also be utilized for office clerical support, bereavement support and fundraising tasks
