Volunteers are an important part of hospice care

Hospice uses a team approach to care for patients at the end of their lives. Each hospice team includes a:

• Case manager
• Registered nurse
• Social worker
• Chaplain
• Home health aide
• Bereavement coordinator
• Volunteer
• Music therapist

Volunteers are an important part of the team because the National Hospice Federation requires that 5 percent of all hospice services be done by volunteers." said Lisa Barriere, the volunteer program specialist and office manager for Visiting Nurse Association of Cape Cod Hospice and Palliative Care.

“My volunteers don’t do any hands-on care, so they can’t do any toileting or medication or feeding or anything like that,” she said. “They’re just a safe presence in the house so the caregiver can get out for a couple of hours to run errands and do what they need to do. And it’s companionship for the patient.”

Some activities that volunteers do with patients include Reiki sessions, reading books, listening to music, crafting, scrapbooking, playing games and writing letters to people they love. Some patients are bedbound and unresponsive. In that case, Barriere tells the volunteer to bring a book and sit quietly by their bedside while the caregiver is away.

One of the most treasured things volunteers do with patients is a program called “Telling Our Stories.” Barriere has created a list of questions taken from an assortment of life journey books.

Sample questions include:

• Where were you born?
• How many siblings did you have?
• Where did you go to school?
• How did your family celebrate holidays?
• What is one of your fondest memories?
• What is a dream that came true in your life?
• Do you have any unfinished business?
• Are there people you need to talk to or anything you need to say?

“People will get really excited about talking about their lives,” she said. “We tape record the sessions and put it on a thumb drive for the family. We’ve had people who have read Good Night Moon to a grandchild they haven’t had yet. It gives a legacy to the children and the grandchildren to hear grandma’s or grandpa’s voice. It’s really sweet and it takes on a whole life of its own.”

How Volunteers Begin

When a patient comes onto hospice services, Barriere calls the home within five days to set up services. Usually, the caregiver answers the phone, but occasionally the patient answers. She collects as much information about the patient as she can, including details about their illness and any interests or hobbies they have. This helps her fit the right volunteer with the patient.

“I try to be very sensitive to my volunteers needs too,” she said. “I keep notes on their preferences. I know my volunteers pretty well by now. I know what they will fit with and what they won’t fit with. I say to both my volunteers and the patient, ‘Everybody doesn’t like chocolate chip cookies, so if this is not a fit, that’s okay. We can go back and find something else. Not everybody is going to be everybody’s preference.’”

How to Become a Volunteer

If someone is interested in becoming a volunteer, they are encouraged to fill out a volunteer application. Barriere runs a CORI check on all potential volunteers and then meets with them in person to see if they will be a good fit. All volunteers have to be up to date on all vaccinations, including the latest COVID-19 one. They have to fill out a medical packet that has to be signed off by their doctor.

They also have to go through occupational health to get a TB test and a titer blood test to make sure they received all of their childhood vaccinations. Additional workplace safety training is also necessary for things like active shooters and sexual harassment. Barriere either meets the volunteer in person to go over the safety protocols or emails them a packet of information.

Once someone is trained, they typically volunteer for a couple of hours once a week between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Some volunteers do two days a week. Once Barriere finds a volunteer for a patient, she has them call the caregiver or the patient themselves to set up a mutually agreeable schedule.

VNA of Cape Cod Hospice also participates in the We Honor Veterans program. As part of the admissions process, Barriere asks if the patient is a vet, if they were in active duty, what branch of the service they were in, if they know their benefits, if they need benefits and if they need more information on benefits.

“When I find somebody who’s a vet, I give them a certificate with the logo of whatever branch of the service they were in,” she said.

She also gives them a star from a retired flag with the following words on the back: “I can no longer fly. The southern winds caused me to become tattered and torn. Please carry me as a reminder that you are not forgotten.”

“I have amazing volunteers,” Barriere said. “I am so blessed to have them. They keep me going.”