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Pet Therapy Hospice Volunteer - Delaware County (PA)
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Description
The care team at Echo Hospice of Pennsylvania, LLC is looking for new, or established, Pet Therapy Teams (human & animal) to visit patients under our care.
[Based on experience, I have to stress that, for this opportunity, you, a possible Pet Therapy Hospice Volunteer human, has to already have to a certified Pet Therapy animal; we do NOT make Pet Therapy Teams... You already come to this volunteer opportunity as a pair!]
If you have gone through the process to certify your animal as a Pet Therapy animal, then I don't need to convince you of the special magic that happens when a Pet Therapy animal is introduced to a patient. The gift of the animal's unconditional love, and the attention to the patient that you --the human component of the team-- bring, too, is emotionally healing!
Because of the special nature of this type of volunteering, visits can be done 2-times a month (instead of weekly, like we are asking of other volunteers). However, Pet Therapy animals must be certified and have insurance by the accrediting certifying agency, like Therapy Dogs International and Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs, as well as be up-to-date with all the required shots.
The human member of the Pet Therapy Team does need to onboard as a "regular" Hospice Volunteer, which includes training on hospice (an online course), health and background checks, and the review and signing of all kinds of forms. More details about the onboarding process will be given to those who show interest in this post.
(All human volunteers need to be at least 18 years old, or older.)
Location
Throughout the entire Delaware County, PA area.
Directions
Volunteers always have control as to where they go, and when they go, however, the more limitations that you put on driving distance and schedule availability, the harder it may be to find a case that will work for you. With that said, Vigil Volunteering can be done at any time-of-day and any day-of-the-week, when a patient is identified as transitioning.
Please fill out this form
If you are interested in joining our pool of Volunteers (and I hope that you are), please contact the Volunteer Coordinator. By showing interest, more information will be sent to you, so you can have a full sense of what is entailed with Hospice Volunteering. The short of it is, you'll have to: fill out an application, review and sign a bunch of other forms, have a conversation with the Volunteer Coordinator, take an on-line training course (about hospice), do some health checks and a background check. (Not necessarily in that order.) Asking for the information doesn't commit you to anything. And nothing bad will happen if you ask questions, either. (It's actually encouraged!) I hope we hear from you!
