St. Louis Hospice Care Volunteers Provide Vital Service

For many people, the word “hospice” conjures sad images of seniors who are either at the end of their life or extremely sick. In reality, St. Louis hospice care is a positive, beneficial, and meaningful program that provides:

Quality end-of-life care
Assistance to patients
Vital support services for families

One of the most valuable aspects of St. Louis hospice care are the volunteers that help carry out these services. Hospice care volunteers pride themselves on connecting with patients through their final stage of life. By providing company to patients and supporting family members and caregivers, their presence reminds the person in their care that they are not alone.

Tasks of a Hospice Volunteer

In the United States, there are over 400,000 hospice volunteers, who collectively donate more than 19 million hours a year while caring for more than one million patients. These hours are dedicated to:

Sitting with a patient
Listening, or listening to and conversing with them
Being supportive and providing comfort
Engaging with patients in their favorite activities and hobbies
Communicating the needs of the patient and their families to hospice staff

Becoming a Hospice Volunteer

Those who want to become a St. Louis hospice care volunteer must participate in a screening process and training. Most hospice care programs provide free training which applicants must complete before they can become a hospice volunteer.

Although the training programs may vary, they all typically offer the same information, including:

A complete overview of services offered by the hospice
Philosophy of hospice care
Physical, emotional, social and spiritual issues that people may encounter at the end-of-life
An overview of terminal and chronic illnesses
Effective communication skills that are useful with the patient and their families
Restrictions for the hospice volunteer and the patient and family
Basic information about grief and loss