The Positive Impacts that Volunteers Have on Hospice Patients

Central Coast Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice provides home healthcare services to residents across Monterey, Santa Cruz, South Santa Clara, and San Benito Counties. The organization's mission is to provide residents with high quality healthcare services by meeting their needs in an honorable, caring, and accessible manner. One of the primary outcomes of this project is finding the positive impact that volunteers have on hospice patients. The project is to collect feedback from staff who collaborate with patients daily and determine how to improve their goals and needs. Creating a survey is an easier way to get answers and feedback quickly because they will be submitted through a Google Form, so they will not get lost or misplaced, and multiple forms can be submitted. The survey consisted of ten questions about the number of days a volunteer should visit the patients, the benefits of companionship visits, and any suggestions that there are to improve the experience with volunteers in hospice care. The results showed a need for more Spanish-speaking volunteers, as companionship visits positively improve patients quality of life and reduce caregiver burnout. In addition, it was requested that volunteers be introduced during interdisciplinary team meetings. Overall, this is a great way to involve the patient and get them to interact and create a support system outside of their caregivers.