How do Hospice Volunteers supplement medical hospice?
Medical Hospice provides the medical component of Hospice i.e. nurses, physician, social worker, pharmacist, chaplain and personal care attendants (or certified nursing assistants). In order for a home health agency to be certified as a Medicare Hospice provider they are federally mandated to have a volunteer component. In some cases the volunteer component is actually “built into” the home health agency. In HVWA’s case, and for about 200 other similar programs nationwide, we are an independent Hospice Volunteer agency and through contractual agreements with local Certified Hospice Medicare programs, we provide the volunteer support prior to a death and also follow-up bereavement support for their clients. We attend their IDT’s (interdisciplinary team meetings held every two weeks) and give our input and share insights and observations like the rest of the team. The volunteer is the one constant in the home during the end-of-life process, because one volunteer is assigned and visits re
