In 1974 the President Richard Nixon signed an executive order that declared April to be National Volunteer Month. Since then, each U.S. president has signed an Proclamation to promote National Volunteer Month. The month of April is when volunteers are honored and given gratitude for their time and effort they give to their civic and community organizations as well as charities, businesses and to individuals.
Vickie Wacaster is a patient and Hospice Advocate with Aveanna Hospice (formerly Comfort Care Hospice)
According to Medicare, Hospice is federally mandated to have trained volunteer hours must be at least 5 percent of the hospice’s total hours of patient care. This obligation highlights the importance of hospice volunteers in providing care for dying patients and their family caregivers, and assists in keeping hospice professionals in a community-based environment and patient and family-oriented. It is reported that the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) states that each year, around 458,000 hospice volunteers give greater than 21 millions hours of assistance for hospice services.
Volunteers play an important role in hospice services. “We appreciate our volunteers each day of the year but National Volunteer Week is a moment to appreciate the work they do and remind all that palliative and hospice care volunteers are angels who work alongside us,” said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO.
There are numerous hospice volunteer opportunities open to women and men from all backgrounds and ages. Hospice offers two kinds of volunteers, Direct Patient Care Volunteers, and Direct Patient Care Volunteers.
Volunteers who provide indirect patient care do tasks such as assisting the office staff with answering phones, writing letters, and assisting at special events as well as various administrative tasks.
The direct care volunteer can do things like relieve primary caregivers, assist in meal preparation, plant flowers or a garden and read to patients help with writing letters and cards, provide comfort to the family and patient and provide various forms of support.
In Hospice We believe that each moment of our lives is a gift to cherish. Contact a hospice organization to inquire about making a difference through becoming a hospice volunteer, or in case you’d like more details on how you can volunteer for Hospice.
“Volunteers don’t necessarily have time to spare: they simply have the desire to do it with their hearts.” (Author not known)
— Vickie C. Wacaster is a patient and the Hospice Advocate of Aveanna Hospice (formerly Comfort Care Hospice).
The article Hospice acknowledges March to be National Volunteer Month appeared first on The Andalusia Star-News.
