Volunteers enhance life for the dying

EDITOR'S NOTE: November is National Hospice Volunteer Month.

By STEVE KADEL Western News Reporter

Brian Coles had worked several years as a professional nurse before he heard about hospice.

The concept — enhancing life for a dying person — made a profound impact on him. Coles was so impressed by the non-traditional approach to end-of-life care that he sought and found a position as a hospice nurse.

"It made everything in my life come together," he said. "All my life, all I've ever wanted to do was help people."

He likes the approach because it delivers social, spiritual and physical support to the dying patient. Coles volunteers for St. John's Hospice, one of 20 local residents who give what time they can to help make terminal patients' last weeks or months as comfortably and peacefully as possible.

While the patients benefit, St. John's Hospice volunteers who were interviewed recently all said they gain from the experience, too. They consider it an honor to be there during a person's final life stage.

"It's a really sacred time," said Michelle Greiner, who had relatives in hospice and began volunteering two years ago. "I was drawn to hospice, and it hooked me."

Many, like Greiner, are comfortable visiting the patient's home regularly. They might look through a scrapbook together, or Greiner might ask how the patient met his or her spouse.

"It's really about getting to know them as a person, not just as a sick person," she said.

Laura Sedler, St. John's Hospital social worker who heads the volunteer program, said hospice caregivers have a chance to help patients relive cheerful parts of their life.

"They can get them talking about better days," she said. "We encourage people to talk."

She agrees with Greiner that volunteers are fortunate, saying, "It's an absolute privilege to be invited into their house and their emotional sphere."

Sedler calls hospice a holistic approach that, in many cases, is the reason a patient can stay at home. As friends and acquaintances fall away during a person's illness, she said hospice visits provide a valuable social contact.

However, Sedler adds that there's a "very strong" medical component as well. Doctors and nurses are available around the clock.

Hospice is for patients who no longer seek curative treatment. Sedler said six months is the average length in the program, although she recalled one man who received hospice care but eventually improved despite doctors' predictions. He became a hospice volunteer himself, Sedler said, but eventually relapsed and went back to receiving hospice care.

She said the story illustrates the individual nature of hospice, and people's reaction to it.

"It's not against rules to get better," Sedler said.

One of the biggest roles hospice volunteers play is to give respite to a patient's regular caregiver. Volunteer Diane Foote is well acquainted with the demands of caring for a dying relative.

She took hospice training five years ago in order to care for her mother, who had Alzheimer's disease. Foote's mother came to live with her after her husband died and there was no one at home to help with the progressive disease.

Foote called caring for her mother "a wonderful decision." When her mother passed away, Foote wanted to begin volunteering for hospice right away.

Sedler put the brakes on that idea, though.

"You need some distance" from your own loss, Sedler said. "You're not emotionally ready."

Coles, the professional nurse, said his own father's death prepared him to be a better hospice provider.

"There's a bond there where you can say, 'I know what you're feeling,'" Coles said.

Lillian Martin, a long-time massage therapist for St. John's Lutheran Hospital, has volunteered for hospice duty for three years.

"I felt a calling," she said. "I see what massage can do and how it eases the discomfort, how it relaxes a patient and how they feel more connected. Sometimes we forget the power of touch, what just that can do for a person. You can see within three minutes of starting the massage that the breathing pattern slows down."

Occasionally Martin does nothing more than hold a patient's hand. Some of her patients can no longer talk, she said, "but the communication stayed so strong through the eyes."

Volunteer coordinator Sedler said there are 20 volunteers on her list, although only six or seven who are always available. Everyone contributes what they can. One lady bakes bread to be taken to patients.

Sedler's husband, Jim, does yard work and other odd jobs. Michelle Greiner's husband, Jim, is a dentist who makes dentures for patients who lose weight and then have trouble with ill-fitting dentures.

"My mother had hospice and I know it's a great service," Jim Greiner said.

Even Audrey, the dog he and Michelle own, is a volunteer of sorts. The fluffy bearer of love rarely fails to connect with patients.

"The dog comes in and their eyes light up," Michelle said.

Hospice volunteer training is held once a year in Libby, usually in February or March. Topics include spirituality, physical aspects of caring for patients, communication skills, and confidentiality laws. Sedler said the sessions are open to anyone who wants to attend, whether they go on to volunteer or not.

No matter what each hospice volunteer can contribute, Sedler emphasized, the gifts are valued.

"The volunteers are an incredible bunch," she said. "You have to be comfortable with the fact we will all die, and the end of life shouldn't be swept under the rug."