People sometimes make assumptions about hospice-palliative care volunteers. A common one is that we are all depressed saints. They probably say this because death in our society has so much sadness surrounding it. The truth is that most of us don’t find hospice volunteering depressing. Otherwise, why would we keep doing it?
These research results, gathered through in-depth interviews with volunteers, motivated me to consider more specific ways that volunteering impacts lives of direct-patient care volunteers. The following are some of the findings:
1) Over half of the participants became volunteers because of previous death experiences with friends or family.
2) Most volunteers said they had been changed, that their outlook on life had changed, and that they learned the importance of living one day at a time.
3) Volunteers found ways to prevent compassion fatigue or burnout.
4) Volunteers said they would encourage others to volunteer.
5) Many volunteers offered suggestions for changing their programs.
Do you have comments on any of these outcomes from your own personal perspective as a hospice-palliative care worker? How have hospice-palliative care experiences impacted your life?
Frances Shani Parker, Author
"Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes”
"Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog"
People sometimes make assumptions about hospice-palliative care volunteers. A common one is that we are all depressed saints. They probably say this because death in our society has so much sadness surrounding it. The truth is that most of us don’t find hospice volunteering depressing. Otherwise, why would we keep doing it?
These research results, gathered through in-depth interviews with volunteers, motivated me to consider more specific ways that volunteering impacts lives of direct-patient care volunteers. The following are some of the findings:
1) Over half of the participants became volunteers because of previous death experiences with friends or family.
2) Most volunteers said they had been changed, that their outlook on life had changed, and that they learned the importance of living one day at a time.
3) Volunteers found ways to prevent compassion fatigue or burnout.
4) Volunteers said they would encourage others to volunteer.
5) Many volunteers offered suggestions for changing their programs.
Do you have comments on any of these outcomes from your own personal perspective as a hospice-palliative care worker? How have hospice-palliative care experiences impacted your life?
Frances Shani Parker, Author
"Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes”
"Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog"
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