NHPCO Celebrates Hospice Volunteers during National Volunteer Week, April 12-18
Hospice volunteers are an integral part of the care team bringing comfort and support to millions
ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 9, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Since its creation over thirty years ago, the Medicare hospice benefit has enabled tens of millions of Americans to avail themselves of the highest quality care at life's end from the nation's dedicated hospice community. Additionally, this federal legislation created one of the most compassionate corps of trained volunteers seen anywhere in the healthcare community.
In recognition of National Volunteer Week, April 12-18, 2015, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and its affiliate organizations are honoring the hospice and palliative care volunteers who bring compassion, support and dignity to those facing a serious, life-limiting illness.
Actress, NHPCO Hospice Ambassador, and hospice volunteer herself, Torrey DeVitto, comments on the importance of volunteering to support people at life's end, "My deepest and most sincere belief is that it is equally as important to help and care for those leaving our world as it is to help and nurture those entering it. And hospice volunteers play such an important part."
NHPCO reports that in 2013, an estimated 355,000 hospice volunteers provided more than 16 million hours of service to hospice programs.
More than 1.5 million people coping with a life-limiting illness are cared for by hospice every year.
It is federally mandated, under Medicare, that five percent of all patient care hours be provided by trained volunteers. This requirement underscores the important role that hospice volunteers play in caring for the dying and their family caregivers.
These volunteers bring companionship to people in the final months and weeks of life, often a time when people find themselves cut off from the community, isolated and alone. They bring respite to family caregivers who are caring for dying loved ones and struggling with their own grief and loss. They provide valuable support with local outreach efforts, fundraising events and administrative tasks.
"We are grateful to our volunteers every day of the year but National Volunteer Week is a time when we can celebrate all they do and remind everyone that hospice and palliative care volunteers are angels working among us," said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO.
Notably, April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day, a day of national outreach emphasizing the importance of advance care planning. Hospice and palliative care providers frequently serve as resources to educate their communities about advance care planning with volunteers often playing a key role in these efforts.
"The synergy between National Healthcare Decisions Day and National Volunteer Week allows us to honor those volunteers who work diligently to emphasize the importance of advance care planning. To this day volunteers continue to be at the heart of hospice," added Schumacher.
To learn more about hospice or to find a hospice in your community to inquire about volunteer opportunities, visit the Moments of Life: Made Possible by Hospice website.
Contact:
Anita Brikman
Senior Vice President, Strategic Communications
Ph: 703-837-3154
NHPCO is the oldest and largest nonprofit leadership organization representing hospice and palliative care programs and professionals in the United States. NHPCO's mission is to lead and mobilize social change for improved care at the end of life.
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SOURCE National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
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