What Can a Hospice Volunteer Do For Me? 

06/09/03

Sometimes it is hard to imagine what a volunteer could do for you or your family. Take a look at the following suggestions, and decide if you might want any of these services provided by a volunteer.

I would like my volunteer to:

• Give me some occasional companionship.
• Relieve some of my other caregiver duties.
• Put some fun and humour in my life.
• Read to me and/or write for me.
• Run some errands for me outside the home.
• Help with yard work.
• Help me plan for my family's future.
• Talk to me about religious/spiritual issues.
• Take the children out for a break and/or play with them in our home.
• Play cards or other games.
• Take me out shopping and/or for outings or appointments.
• Perform therapeutic touch, guided imagery, or other complementary therapies.
• Help me finish a project.
• Do something else not listed here.

Adapted from "Caregiving" by Douglas C. Smith, available in the Hospice Peterborough Library.