Vitas Innovative Hospice Care New Volunteer Orientation

Volunteering is very rewarding. As a volunteer, you can make a difference in another person’s life. You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment by improving the quality of life of someone at the end of life. You can also establish meaningful relationships with patients, their families and our hospice team.
How can you help patients and families?

Listening as a patient shares memories, feelings, fears Filling in to give a family caregiver a short, needed break Making supportive calls and visits to bereaved family members and friends Telephoning patients and families to offer reassurance and comfort Providing administrative support in the VITAS office Running errands, performing light housekeeping chores Visiting lonely patients in nursing homes Reading, playing games, listening to music Taking a patient on an outing Specialty volunteers provide massage, play music and bring their pets to visit. We have volunteer opportunities for those who are homebound, including telephone visitation.

Students find many opportunities to gain valuable experience while meeting their school’s requirements.

All VITAS volunteers receive comprehensive training that includes hospice philosophy, caring for the terminally ill, and grief and loss education. All volunteers have a background check completed and are screened. We then match your talents and interests with available volunteer roles.

*PRE-REGISTRATION and INTERVIEW required. Contact Christine Urpin, Volunteer Manager at christine.urpin@vitas.com / (203) 455-3345