***NEWPORT*** Athena Hospice of RI Volunteers Needed!

Hospice Volunteers Needed! All that is required is a kind, caring heart and desire to be a compassionate presence for a patient with a life-limiting illness. Volunteers increase our patient's quality of life by offering emotional support and companionship to our patients and their families.

Athena Hospice of Rhode Island is in need of volunteers. Currently, volunteer opportunities exist in Providence and East Providence with our patients that reside in nursing homes. Volunteers throughout the state will eventually be needed as we receive additional patients. These volunteers may be in nursing homes or in the community.

Volunteers support patients with life-limiting illnesses, and training is provided to volunteers so that they are equipped to do so. Training areas include Hospice philosophy, communication and active listening, family systems and dynamics, grief and bereavement, respecting cultural differences, patient rights, HIPPA, etc.. Volunteers find working with Hospice patients very rewarding as they help patients to live each day as fully and comfortable as possible. They support people in living out the ends of their lives with peace.

We appreciate any time that someone is able to give, whether that is a few hours a week or more. Volunteers working with alert patients do things such as sit and talk with them, assist them with a hobby, paint their nails, take them outside, help them to a make video recording for their loved ones, etc. Some patients that are closer to the end of life are unable to actively participate. In these cases, volunteers do things such as read to the patient or play their favorite music.

Volunteers are an invaluable part of our interdisciplinary team. Volunteers demonstrate a deep commitment to the Hospice Philosophy and to their desire to help others. Volunteers in hospice find it personally gratifying, intellectually stimulating, and emotionally meaningful to assist those in need at a critical point in their lives. Volunteers consistently report that helping the terminally ill through Athena Hospice is not about dying but about living.