Hospice volunteers are an important part of a team of caring individuals providing support for patients and families. Hospice is a program of care and support for individuals at the end of life and their families. Our focus is on helping our patients have the best quality of life possible in the time that they have left. Hospice care is not just for cancer patients and not just for someone’s very last days, but is available for anyone with any type of life-limiting illness within the last six months of their life.
CT VNA’s Hospice is a not-for-profit, Medicare approved, JCAHO-certified hospice program providing care throughout CT since 1999. CT VNA’s interdisciplinary teams offer a wide range of services for patients and their families, including a complementary services program specifically focused on activities that provide comfort and enhance quality of life.
Our volunteers contribute to quality of life by providing companionship and socialization, respite for weary caregivers, a helping hand with chores or errands, or simply holding a hand and being a good listener. Specialized volunteers provide gifts of music or art, or visit with their trained and certified pet. Volunteers visit patients within their own community on a schedule that is flexible and determined by the patient/family and volunteer.
Free hospice volunteer training is provided and gives a solid base of information to prepare you for working with hospice patients and their families. The training covers what hospice is, clinical information about death and dying, communication skills, spiritual care, grief and bereavement, and the role of the volunteer. Classes are offered several times a year and are usually held at 12 Case Street in Norwich. Our September class will be offered at Gladeview Health Care in Old Saybrook.
Volunteer opportunities are also available for administrative support, for special projects such as planting flowers or plants to brighten a patient’s room, or to visit with our homecare patients.
Our volunteers will tell you what a remarkably positive experience it is to share time with our patients and their families. For information about how you can become a CT VNA volunteer, please call 860.859.4133, or visit our website, www.masonicare.org. For information regarding hospice care or to make a referral, please call and ask to speak with a hospice nurse.
Sincerely,
Faith Grist
Volunteer Coordinator, CT VNA
