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Ms. Oma Motter, left, shares a laugh at her Lincoln
farm with Dawn Goff, her Compassionate Care Hospice Nurse Assistant.
Hospice provides care for terminally ill patients who decline continued
treatment to live out their lives in comfortable and familiar
surroundings. Hospice officials say volunteers are at the heart of their
services and are always needed.
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CARING COMES HOME
Every day, local hospice volunteers, assist terminally ill residents
throughout Downstate. Their work is, valued by patients, caregivers, hospice
employees and many members of the community. The goal of hospice
organizations is to comfort dying patients who no longer want to undergo
aggressive medical treatment.
Susan Millman, director of community outreach for Delaware's Compassionate
Care Hospice, said hospice patients normally have less than one year to
live. "Our goal is to keep them comfortable in the time they have left," she
said. "The focus for care is pain and symptom relief, rather than curative.”
Physician approval and patient consent are needed to become a hospice
patient. Hospice staff and volunteers work with patients to help improve
quality of life as they endure the final stages of a terminal disease. "We
do whatever we possibly can to make the end of someone's life as rewarding
and enriching as possible," Ms. Millman said. She said hospice patients are
usually tired of constant hospital visits and want to spend their remaining
months with family and friends.
 Hospice
staff and volunteers go into homes and nursing homes to help care for the
patients. Most hospice groups have their own staff of registered nurses who
work to alleviate their patients' pain and discomfort.
The volunteers do not and provide medical treatment, by running errands,
spending time with them, preparing meals, assisting their caregivers and
more.
Ms. Millman said Compassionate Care Hospice has evolved considerably since
it’s inception 10 years ago. She noted that the volunteer staff has grown,
resulting in improved patient services.
All volunteers undergo a vigorous training program where they are schooled
in the hospice philosophy.
Vicki Monaco of Newark began volunteering with Compassionate Care Hospice
three years ago. She said she cherishes her work with the organization.
“It’s such an enjoyable experience and you wouldn’t think that it would be”
she said, “It’s so rewarding that it over comes any of the sadness”. Ms.
Monaco was so inspired by her work as a hospice volunteer, that she decided
to go back to school to pursue a nursing degree. She is one of thousands of
hospice volunteers throughout the First State.
To Volunteer at Compassionate
Care Hospice, click here.Return to Top |
Article featured in
THE DOWNSTATE DAILY - Delaware State Newspaper, Sunday August 24, 2003 |
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