Volunteering in Hospice

Parker Jewish Institute’s Comprehensive Community Hospice has been providing highly specialized care to terminally ill patients since 1997 and welcomes volunteers of all ages and backgrounds. Hospice volunteers are a special group of people that use their time and talents to enrich the quality of life for our patients and their families as the end of life approaches. Hospice volunteers enhance the quality of life and help reduce the burden for family caregivers by providing support, assistance, in patient’s homes, in nursing homes, and assisted living facilities.

Hospice volunteers can commit to as little or as much time as they wish. Some volunteers provide several hours of service each week while others commit to a few hours each month. Serving as valued members of the hospice team, for just a few hours of your time you can make a significant impact on the lives of patients and their loved ones.

There are many opportunities to share your time and talents as a volunteer and support patients, their loved ones dealing with end of life. There are many opportunities to share your time and talents as a volunteer and support patients, their loved ones dealing with end of life. Opportunities include: Doulas, bereavement/grief, patient friendly visits, legacy projects, administrative support, community education, and help recruiting other volunteers.

Hospice Volunteer Opportunities

Hospice volunteers provide extra level of support to patients and their families in the last weeks and months of life. Volunteers are essential in bridging the gap between the Hospice staff and family caregivers by giving comfort and care to patients and their families during the end of life. Parker’s Hospice Program offers a range of volunteer opportunities, including:

Hospice Doulas (Companion Till the End): As part of a team, provide a cocoon of support to help ensure that no patient dies alone by keeping vigil with the patient and their loved ones in their final days of life.

Bereavement Volunteers: Make home visits and phone calls to grieving families and friends, help with bereavement support groups, and send bereavement letters.

Friendly Visitors: Visit patients and families at home, nursing home, and assisted living facility. Pay a friendly visit; relieve a family caregiver for a short break; accompany a patient on a walk together; read to a patient; listen to music.

Legacy Projects: Legacy projects are individually tailored to help patients discuss accomplishments, and heritage at the end of their life. Legacy projects include scrap-books, writing stories, or collating recipes.

Administrative Volunteers: Provide support in the office: assisting with special projects, preparing mailings, and answering the phones.

Telephone Assurance Volunteers: Make supportive phone calls to patients and their families weekly.

Student Interns: Meet educational requirements while providing care to patients and families. Examples: social work, counseling, chaplaincy, nursing, physician assistants, and art therapy.

Getting Started as a Hospice Volunteer

Volunteers are the heart of our hospice program. Volunteers provide an extra level of comfort that makes that warms the heart, and the words that say everything will be okay. By being a hospice volunteer, you can gain personal satisfaction from knowing that you have made a difference in someone’s life. An interview and meeting with the hospice staff is required to help prospective volunteers understand the requirements for volunteering for our program. Hospice volunteers must also attend training. We offer training on weeknights and weekends to accommodate a variety of schedules.

Volunteers are the heart of hospice. Learn how you can help patients and their caregivers at the most vulnerable time in their lives. If you are interested in becoming a hospice volunteer, please Click Here or call 718.289.2134.

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