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Abell pointed out that for much of the twentieth century, our society has avoided dealing with death. “We try to keep the subject of death at an arm’s length,” Abell said. This conventional approach to death has made it difficult for some terminally ill patients and their families to cope with the already difficult last months of life.
The Hospice volunteer deals with the whole family as well as the terminally ill patient. “Some families can deal with the situation on their own, but others fall apart and that’s when the Hospice worker is needed,” Abell said. “The worker can give the family members the chance to take some time away to go to a movie or something. ’’
Abell said that one of the things taught through the training is for the worker not to try to do everything for the patient and family so that they will not become dependent on the worker. “We were also taught not to come in and say something like, ‘There, there. It will be all right’," Abell said. “The worker only comes in when the patient has six months or so left to live.”
The Hospice volunteer generally works in the patient’s home, and the volunteers have been trained by nurses to do some of the physical things, like changing sheets while someone is in the bed, that make the patients more comfortable. The Hospice service has to be requested, and the patients and families sign contracts that describe what the worker will be doing.
Abell said that the training validated thoughts about dying that she had had. “One of the biggest beliefs that was validated for me is that the
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