A*Med Healthcare Group

A*MED Mission Statement:
To provide a high quality, comprehensive
Palliative program dedicated to promoting
Comfort, quality of life for clients and
Families facing a terminal illness

Hello Interested Volunteer
I want to give you a little more info about volunteering at A*Med Community Hospice.
If you choose to volunteer, you will fills the gap between loved ones and professional caregivers. Volunteers will be there even when friends and family find it hard to do so. Volunteers don't have the emotional attachment family does. They meet the needs of patients and families. They visit on a schedule, yet are open to change as dictated by the patient's health and interests. They are unpaid, yet priceless.
Hospice volunteer opportunities in which you feel comfortable and fulfilled. Opportunities may include:

• Watch tv, playing a game, having a conversation with patient. Listening to their life story, looking at family pictures.
• Play music Music Therapy is used for many different issues, from stress relief to mental, emotional problems. It has been shown to help treat depression and anxiety, and is often used to help elderly clients deal with memory loss associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's and Dementia.

Hospice volunteers need to know that hospice work takes its toll. You become friends with people who are going to die, and with the people who love them. You must be able to sit quietly, take a back seat to the events taking place around you, be a calming presence when that is called for. You need to be a guest, an observer, a facilitator.
As a hospice volunteer, you need to:

• Commit the time to volunteer orientation
• Be dependable
• Be patient
• Be a listener, and comfortable in silence
• Know your strengths, your limits, and when to say no
• Be non-judgmental
• Accept that needs can be physical, emotional and/or spiritual
• Respect all beliefs, all religious customs and all who lack them

Just 3 things to do when becoming a volunteer:

1. Fill out the application, sign and return to shuffar@amedhealthcare.com
2. Sharon will send off the background check. When she gets the background check back - all clear - then Sharon will notify you and set up a day to do the training (about 2 hours), TB test (nurse does this in the office), take a copy of current driver's license and car insurance, get a badge made up
3. Review the list of patients and locations.

Use those wonderful talents and skills to help people when they need it most!
Hopefully I have answered most of your questions. Please contact me with any concerns or details that I did not address.
I anticipate to hear from you soon!
Sincerely,
Sharon Huffar, Volunteer Coordinator
A*Med Community Hospice
7800 Shoal Creek Blvd, Ste 145 South
Austin, Tx. 78757
512 323 6500