VOLUNTEERS

IN TOUCH DECEMBER, 2012

A Publication of Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro

Thank you for joining us at the Annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. We are proud to honor such a wonderful group of people for your self-

less service to HPCG, our patients and their families. It is a privilege to serve with you. The following volunteers were recognized for their years of

volunteer service:

HPCG Honors Its Volunteers

30 Years

25 Years

15 Years

10 Years

Charlotte Chatlain

Mary Allen

Margaret Moreland

Bill Coleman

Pam Gaynor

Gene Trout

Elisabeth Allgood

Elka

Mike Gaspeny

Gloria Hatfield

Art Kriner

5 Years Jim Etling

Dorothy Fansler

Jack Heath

Megan Martin

Andres Mosquera

Susan Nicholson

John Reece

Cynthia Schaub

Hollie Shelton

Barbara Tookey

Cynthia Wilcox

Elka became an HPCG therapy dog volun-

teer 10 years ago and would have received

her 10 year recognition award at the volun-

teer luncheon. However, Elka passed

away on November 12, 2012. Elka’s own-

er, Pam Gaynor, graciously attended the

luncheon and accepted Elka’s 10 year ser-

vice award. Pam also received her award for her 15 years of volunteer

service.

Elka touched many hearts during her volunteer service and she will be

deeply missed as part of our HPCG family.

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Continuing Education / .5 hours Continuing Education Credit (CEC)

Quality of Life: In addition to helping your loved one with decision making and providing physical care, as a caregiver, you can help en-hance your loved one’s quality of life. The following suggestions can help improve or maintain your loved one's physical and emotional well-being. Meals: As people age, their taste buds diminish so their appetite and desire for food changes. Also, they can experience problems with chewing and swallowing. If this is a problem, please contact your doc-tor and ask for a nutritional consultation for assistance. Clothing: Regardless of our age or physical condition, we want to look and feel our best. Today’s clothing options make that a much easier goal to reach. When buying clothing, consider the following slacks and skirts that have elasticized waistbands or tie waistbands. Clothing with snaps, zippers and/or buttons down the front are easier to manipulate. Shoes that will not slip off easily, and have a non-skid tread. Clothing that is washable and wrinkle-free saves on dry cleaning bills and ironing time. Exercise: In consultation with your loved one’s or friend's physician and physical therapist, you can plan an exercise routine. Exercise, even for bed and wheelchair-bound persons, helps to improve circulation (blood flow), lung and heart function and posture Organization: Keeping track of the many responsibilities of caregiv-ing can be daunting. Organization can help you care for your loved one or friend and maximize the amount of quality time you can spend together. Make lists of important information to keep you organized and availa-ble in case of an emergency. These lists and other needed information can be put into a clearly marked notebook and kept where others can easily find them. This notebook should contain enough information so that someone filling in for you will know exactly what is needed and what to do. For example, you might make a list of all the things you need for morning and bedtime routines such as bathing items, medications, and clothing. If you use items in several different places, such as the bath-room and bedroom, have duplicate items stored in these rooms. List medical personnel with their area of expertise, addresses and tele-phone numbers, home healthcare agencies, other people who can help or fill in if you need additional help, lawyers and financial advisors. Note where needed items are kept, such as thermometers and blood pressure monitors, medications, when they are to be taken, and where they are stored. Emergency contacts in addition to 911. Community Resources: Your local Area Agency on Aging or the Eldercare Locator and other organizations may offer services to assist you. These may include Meals on Wheels, caregiver training classes, transportation, friendly visitors and respite care so that you can have a break. Following is a list of helpful services that may assist you with your caregiving responsibilities: Home Care: There are many types of home care and it is important to think about what type of services you need before contacting an agency. Home care services can include medical care, social support

and help with chores or tasks of daily living. Services are delivered in the home or a non-medical living facility such as a senior living com-munity to people recovering from an accident or surgery, those who are disabled and people who are seriously ill. Home Health Care: There must be a medical need to receive home health care. Home health care includes skilled nursing care, as well as other skilled care services, like physical and occupational therapy, speech- language therapy, and medical social services. These services are given by a variety of skilled health care professionals at home. The goal of short-term home health care is to provide treatment for an illness or injury. Ask the doctor if your family member or friend is eligible for these services. Non Medical Home Care: If your friend or loved one needs help with non-medical tasks or simply needs companionship you may want to consider hiring a non-medical home care worker. These workers may help with household chores including cooking, laundry, shopping, cleaning, bill paying and driving your loved one to appointments. One of the benefits of this type of service is companionship with someone new who is focused on caring for and talking with your loved one. Cleaning and Yard Work Services : Your local Area Agency on Aging may be able arrange for chore and yard maintenance services or put you in touch with religious, scout or other volunteer groups that provide one-time or occasional services to older persons who need help. Senior Centers: Senior Centers offer older people a safe environment where they can take part in a range of activities led by trained person-nel. Meal and nutrition programs, information and assistance, health and wellness programs, recreational and arts programs, transportation services, volunteer opportunities, educational opportunities, employee assistance, intergenerational programs, social and community action opportunities and other special services are often available through a senior center. Adult Day Care Services: For older persons with serious limitations in their mobility, those who are frail, and those who have medical and cognitive problems, adult day care centers can provide care in a safe, structured environment. Adult day care services include personal and nursing care, congregate meals, therapeutic exercises, and social and recreational activities. Most adult day care centers, like senior centers, are supported through public and non-profit organizations. Fees may range from a few dollars to several hundred dollars a day, depending on the services needed. Meal Programs: To find out about home-delivered meals programs and other meals programs, you can contact Meals on Wheels, the Na-tional Eldercare Locator or the State or Area Agency on Aging.

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization Website November 19, 2012

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2013 Continuing Education Credits

Your continuing education credits started for the new fiscal year on

October 1, 2012. HPCG’s fiscal year is October 1 to September 30.

Twelve hours are required for Direct Patient Care volunteers and

eight hours are required for administrative and gardening volun-

teers.

Remember that our online HEN (Hospice Education Network)

courses are also available. You can log onto the HEN website and

complete these in the comfort of your home or if you need access

to a computer, please contact your volunteer coordinator to arrange

a time to come to the Summit location and use a computer. If you

are not a computer person, we have books you can read and movies

you can watch to assist you in meeting the educational requirements.

Your volunteer coordinator is happy to assist you.

Volunteer Coordinators

Cathy Lohr Kids Path, Palliative Care 544-2274

Donna Camp South Teams, Beacon Place 478-2755

Robyn Shelala Long Term Care 478-1924

Sally Cobb Gardening 544-2289

Brenda Harris North Teams, Director of

Volunteer Services

278-2554

It has come to my attention late-ly that not everyone in the or-ganization is aware of a Custom-er Service effort undertaken at Beacon Place recently. Together with the Volunteer Department under the direction of Donna Camp a large number of Beacon Place volunteers have been trained to conduct tours for any and all who may come to Beacon Place. We frequently have peo-ple (the general public) coming for a tour or they may have heard that this may be the most appropriate place for their loved one.

Volunteers do a great job of showcasing Beacon Place and offering wonderful customer service at the same time. If fur-ther follow up is needed, the volunteers know how to re-fer. Beacon Place staff also feels comfortable completing tours and welcome the opportunity to engage. We are clear that the

tours can only be a tour of the facility and that volunteers and staff do not deal with the details of admissions, financial implica-tions, etc. This has worked very well for all. Home care Social Workers are still more than wel-come to tour their families at any time but if they are tied up, etc., volunteers and BP staff are more than willing to help. So the long and short is: anyone can have a tour of Beacon Place any-time — it does not need to be scheduled or coordinated.

We feel that this helps us to rec-ognize Principle2 “Be Welcom-ing” and is a very important “touch point.”

Our thanks to our invaluable Beacon Place volunteers.

Pat Gibbons Director, Beacon Place

Gardening Volunteers Luncheon

On October 30, 2012 gardening volunteers gathered at Kids Path

for their annual gardening volunteers luncheon. Jeanette Barnes,

gardening volunteer, wrote the article below and shared it with her

fellow volunteers attending the luncheon.

Inspirational Writing

I walked through the garden alone this morning. It is early yet and no one else has arrived. As I go to the different bins to retrieve nec-essary tools, I see and hear signs of life: cardinals with their bright red plumage singing good morning to whomever will listen, earth-worms darting up and over the loose soil, then disappearing into their safe underground chambers. The scent of the early morning rain makes the flowering bushes appear to be so alert they could “walk” through the gardens at Kids Path. Even the little brass chil-dren appear to be alive as they dance to Ring Around the Rosie.

God is surely in this place! It seems just days ago Mother was here when she made her final journey in this life. I just wish she could see these lovely gardens now. It is hard now to visualize how the scene looked then. I remember watching the children being installed in the mushy, red clay soil. I could not glimpse into the future that their play area would become a quiet utopia of color, a perfect place for children to frolic and amuse themselves as well as adults quietly re-flecting on the past and future of their own families. What would become of the family unit without their loved one who lay dying in nearby Beacon Place?

In the meantime, patients and loved ones alike have an opportunity to enjoy the grounds here. In large part these beautiful areas are carefully tended by Sally Cobb, our Horticultural Therapist. We are a small army of volunteers who answer to Sally as we toil and also learn from her.

Come join me when you can to see this “oasis” in Greensboro. It has been deemed to be one of Greensboro’s best kept secrets. Oops, I hear Sally calling me as she shouts GOOD MORNING!

Jeanette Barnes

October 2012

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VOLUNTEERS IN TOUCH

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Birthdays

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Greensboro, NC

Cheryl Wood 1/2 Carol Ingram 1/24

Mary Pat Haaf 1/3 June Anderson 1/26

Lauren Thornton 1/4 Michael Haran 1/27

Carol Douglas 1/5 Linda Walker 1/31

Michelle Simons 1/8

Karen Pfaff 1/10

Hollie Shelton 1/11

Joan McCarron 1/12

Emily Mullis 1/12

Jill Wall 1/13

Ha Cheek 1/16

John Reece 1/17

Elizabeth Vance 1/19

Jean Denny 1/22

Autry Barrett 1/23

Karen McDowell 1/23

Myra Johnson 12/1 Doris Kiel 12/28

Evelyn Cummings 12/2 Denise Alexander 12/29

Sara Lever 12/8

Sandra Canipe 12/9

Sheree Hyde 12/10

Susan Salamack 12/11

Sandra Pearce 12/14

Ronnie Daniel 12/15

Karen Lewis 12/17

George Gardea 12/18

Nancy Ann Schwer 12/19

Patricia Boswell 12/19

Mary Boozer 12/20

Donald Prelich 12/21

Cindy Gillespie 12/22

Tara Hanselman 12/23