April 23-29 is National Volunteer Week 2006, and we at Hospice of Hope and Hospice of Hope-Ohio Valley encourage all Americans to take time to honor the volunteers who give selflessly of their time and talents.

Volunteers play a particularly important part in hospice and palliative care programs across the nation.  They are integral members of hospice’s interdisciplinary care team, providing comfort and compassion to those facing a life-limiting illness.

An estimated 219 Hospice of Hope volunteers provide approximately 7,000 hours of service each year.  Many people become hospice volunteers after experiencing first hand the compassionate care hospice provided to a dying loved one.

Whether it’s providing companionship to a person in the final months and weeks of life, offering support to family members and caregivers, delivering flowers from our garden, or helping with community outreach and fundraising, the contributions of volunteers are essential to our nation’s hospice and palliative care programs and to our local hospice.   In fact, the role of volunteers is built into Medicare’s regulations, which require that five percent of patient care hours be provided by trained volunteers.

The true value of hospice volunteers cannot be measured in terms of hours or dollars.  Hospice volunteers provide an all-important community connection for patients and families, helping to avoid loneliness and isolation that frequently accompany a terminal illness.

The roots of hospice are grounded in the dedicated work of volunteers who wanted to provide a more compassionate, dignified experience for dying.
 

Hospices in this country served more than one million patients last year and volunteers accompanied those people on one of life’s most challenging journeys  - the end of life.