Many hospice agencies have volunteers, and families often hear about them only in passing. Some volunteers sit with the patient so the family can leave the house for an hour. Others read aloud, talk, or keep company. Whether this agency has volunteers, what they are permitted to do, and how dependable they are can all be settled before you ever need the hours.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
Ask what the volunteer is allowed to do
Ask for the task list in writing. Find out whether the volunteer sits with the patient, reads, talks, runs a short errand, or does anything physical, and what the agency lists as off limits. Then ask what happens when a visit calls for something that is not on the list. The answer should be that the volunteer contacts the nurse or the family, not that the volunteer improvises.
Medicine stays with the family, the doctor and the pharmacist. Confirm that medicine is not on the volunteer's list of tasks, and that the volunteer has been told to leave it alone.
Ask about the schedule, not only the promise
Ask how many hours a week the program can give this home, and how those hours are set. Some programs assign a fixed weekly slot, and others fill whatever is open. Ask whether you will get the same volunteer each time or whoever is available. Ask how much notice you must give to change or cancel a visit, and how much notice the agency gives you when its volunteer cannot come.
If you plan to leave the house during the visit, ask how long the volunteer will stay and whether they will wait if the trip takes longer than planned. Time the drive to the pharmacy and back before you count on the hours for an errand.
Ask about screening and who is responsible
Ask what screening and training the volunteer completes, whether they carry agency identification, and who supervises them. Ask whom you call if something goes wrong during the visit, and whether the volunteer is told to call the nurse first or to call you first. Get that answer in writing, or at least write it on the card by the phone.
Ask about the backup
A volunteer who does not arrive is one of the things families plan for least. Ask whether the agency keeps a backup list, whether a staff member will try to cover the visit, and how you will be told that the visit is off. Decide now what the family will do with those hours if no one comes, whether that means a family member covers or the time simply goes unused. Do not put the hours into the weekly plan until the agency has confirmed the first visit.
What a volunteer can and cannot take off your list
A volunteer can give the patient some company and give you a break. A volunteer does not replace a paid helper for the nights, and does not replace the hospice team. If your week needs more coverage than a few volunteer hours can give, tell the hospice nurse or social worker, and compare the options against what the rest of your plan requires.
Ask these questions on the first call, not on the bad night. A volunteer you have checked is worth more than one you were hoping for.