A two-day volunteer orientation training is taking place for anyone interested in becoming a hospice volunteer. Community Hospice in Ashland is hosting the event looking for volunteers of any background to perform a variety of duties, including in-home care visits, emotional support, and nursing home visits.
The hospice organization serves people at home and in nursing homes across Carter, Elliott, Martin, Boyd, Greenup, Johnson and Lawrence counties.
Andrea Arnett is the Director of Volunteer Services at Community Hospice. She said the training provides a general overview of hospice, with people from almost every department coming to talk about what their area does.
“Our CEO gives a general overview of the history of hospice and the history of community hospice. We have a bereavement counselor come and talk about grief and bereavement. We have social workers come and talk about you know family dynamics and how do we work with families? How do we help families? One of our chaplains come and we talk about hospice and spiritual care,” said Arnett.
Arnett added that a section is done on HIPAA, OSHA, infection control, and palliative care.
On average, Community Hospice takes care of 170 people a day across nine counties. Arnett said anyone who wants to volunteer will be placed in an area that accommodates their skill and comfort level.
“We can utilize volunteers in so many different ways that I think sometimes people just think in their minds “Oh gosh I don’t know if I want to sit with a hospice patient. That’s kind of scary,” but there are so many other opportunities,” said Arnett.
The sessions take place November 1-2 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Community Hospice office located at 1480 Carter Avenue Ashland. Arnett said registration is preferred at least one day before the training. Volunteers determine when and how often they are available.