Volunteering, Making Friends with People Who Have Dementia (Research)

A hospice volunteer many years in Detroit, Michigan nursing homes with residents who had dementia, I was delighted to find research about volunteers “befriending” people with this disease. This study included a small group of nine volunteers who were younger and older adults. Responding to interview questions, they shared their friendship experiences in detail. They emphasized numerous complex and unique processes that generated issues of power, equality, and boundaries. These are some of the rewards they received from volunteering. Remember, good volunteering is always win-win:

1)   Making friends with people who have dementia was described as “a deeply personal and human experience, often with emotional power and profound meaning.”

2)   Volunteers were able to see past dementia stereotypes.

3)   Volunteers’ personal assumptions and boundaries were challenged.

4)   Volunteers became more reflective about love, life, and humanness.

This research concluded that future studies should consider the experiences of those receiving the volunteer service, ways of making the mutual friendship more effective, and more exploration of volunteer difficulties and support.

The recommendation that I would make to all volunteers and anyone else making friends with people who have dementia is based on what I have learned while making friends with my hospice patients and others who have dementia. I have included this advice in number four of my list titled “Hospice Volunteer Success in 10 Steps:” 

4) Try other doors.

Patients will have challenges such as dementia that may not respond to your usual front-door communication. Try other doors and even windows. Obstacles are enrichment opportunities in your partnerships with patients. Touch, music, pictures, stories, and fantasies are a few entry points. Let patients help you navigate your way into their world.

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.
Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Volunteer Benefits, Testimonies (Research, Video 1:06)

Have you ever considered the many benefits of hospice and other forms of volunteering? There are various reason why people enjoy giving service to others in win-win relationships. Hospice volunteering seems a little weird to some people. The idea of freely spending time with terminally ill patients predicted to die within six months appears somewhat bizarre. I have had people insist that hospice volunteering must be depressing, even after I have said it isn't and have enjoyed it for many years.

How do other hospice volunteers feel about their experiences? A hospice volunteer research survey measured motivations to volunteer, satisfaction with the role and the organization, and fear of death and dying. This is what the survey reported:

1) Motivations to volunteer remained over time, and satisfaction increased with time.

2) Fears of death and dying varied by age, volunteer role, and motivations to volunteer. Fears decreased at six months.

Like many other kinds of service, hospice volunteering shows evidence of being a satisfying experience. In terms of depression about death, it appears to help decrease fears about death and dying.

What about other ways of giving service? Why do people choose them? There are so many choices available. In this brief video, five people who volunteer talk about the volunteer choices they made in sports, in the community, with elderly people, at the Paralympics, in a band, and with animals. Remember, good service is always a win-win opportunity for both the giver and receiver.

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Hospice Volunteer Research, Appreciation (Video 3:25)

Iowa City, Iowa Hospice Volunteer Appreciation Photo

Hospice volunteers play a vital role in the success of hospice organizations throughout the country.  During the month of April, these volunteers and many other volunteers will receive tokens of appreciation for their services. In recent years, several research projects have focused on hospice volunteers’ efforts by examining evidence of their work as end-of-life caregivers. The following hospice volunteer research results were conclusions of 54 studies:

What We Know About Hospice Volunteers

1)     We know the various roles hospice volunteers play, the stresses they experience, and the satisfying rewards they receive from their service.

2)     Less is known about how to successfully recruit, prepare, and retain them.

3)     A small body of information exists regarding the positive contributions volunteers make in the lives of families and in the longevity of patients.

What We Need To Know More About Hospice Volunteers

1)     While we know hospice volunteers play an important role in the lives of patients they serve, more research is needed on their important end-of-life contributions.

2)     Future research should focus more on ways to maximize contributions of hospice volunteers and provide them with needed support.

Thank you to volunteers everywhere for all you do to make the world a better place. “To the world you may be one person. But, to one person, you may be the world. “   Anonymous

        

This Reflections of a Hospice Volunteer video includes a poem highlighting my experiences as a hospice volunteer in Detroit, Michigan nursing homes:

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog