Continuum Hospice Care and VA Volunteer Training

Announcing a New Concept in Volunteering: Join With Hospice in Serving the Veterans in New York

To assist with meeting the needs of veterans in New York, Continuum Hospice provides training for volunteers to serve in the VA Palliative Care Program. Continuum Hospice has an established record of developing volunteer services for patients in their homes and healthcare facilities and welcomes the opportunity to share its experience and expertise with the VA.

Together, Continuum Hospice and the VA offer specialized training to meet the needs of both the veteran and the volunteer. Classes for volunteers interested in working with patients focus on active listening, understanding the nature of life-threatening illness as it pertains to veterans, and how to maintain appropriate presence with patients and their families.

Volunteers provide:

• Companionship
• Assisted Daily Living Skills
• Escorting
• Peace of mind to families; knowing their loved one is receiving special attention in their absence
• Office and clerical support

Training sessions are offered periodically throughout the year at the Brooklyn VA Hospital and Continuum Hospice Care headquarters, near Columbus Circle in Manhattan.

The VA Palliative Care Program

The Palliative Care Program at the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System was established to provide compassionate care to patients who are in the final stages of a terminal illness. The Palliative Care Program is made up of a team of trained professionals that include physicians, pain management specialists, and nurses, nursing assistants, pharmacists, clergy, social workers and volunteers. Palliative Care volunteers are an extension of the health care team and assist staff in providing a continuum of care. They provide support to seriously ill patients and their families in their own home or on the inpatient Palliative Care Unit.

For more information on volunteering please contact The VA Palliative Care Program at 718.836.6600x1433 or Continuum Hospice Care at 212.844.5744.