On hospices, and dying with dignity

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BANGOR – Sue Michaud Anderson of Bradley has used hospice services twice – the first time when her mother died, and recently, when her father passed away. What does she appreciate about the program?

“Absolutely, the support involved,” she said.

When a loved one is dying, family members want to make them as comfortable as possible, she said. Hospice staff went “way out of their way,” and “above and beyond the call of duty” in providing assistance to those nearing the end of life, even with middle of the night calls.

“It is, indeed, dying with dignity,” she said.

Anderson is a hospice volunteer herself, for Home Health and Hospice of St. Joseph, as is one of her three sisters.

“After our mother’s experience we wanted to give back,” she said.

Hospice volunteers are involved in an endless variety of activities. Sometimes they read to or chat with their clients. Sometimes they care for pets, walking dogs or feeding cats. Sometimes they put up bird feeders. Other volunteers get groceries or write letters.

They reminisce with clients or take them on an ice cream outing. One takes a harp to clients’ homes and plays for them. Another provides a registered therapy dog. One volunteer sings and dances for her clients. One took a client on an eight-hour trip to Mount Desert Island, a location she’d never been.

“It’s just been wonderful,” Sue Thibodeau said of her experience as a hospice volunteer for Hospice of Eastern Maine. Thibodeau, who lives in Old Town and works as an administrative assistant II at the University of Maine’s School of Marine Sciences, spends a couple of hours or so each week in her volunteer work. The rewards?

“There are many,” she said. Patients’ faces light up when they see her coming. Thibodeau knows they have chosen to have a volunteer visit, that she’s helping them, and that they’re excited to see her.

“You don’t want to disappoint them,” she said.

Hospice of Eastern Maine’s director of volunteer services, Wayne Melanson, a longtime friend of Thibodeau’s, helped her become involved as a volunteer in the hospice program. Initially, she had been reluctant because, like many people, she had a fear of death – even waking up in the night worrying about it.

But Thibodeau decided to give the program a try and it has helped her – even the component that takes volunteers to see a funeral home. She was apprehensive about the visit, but in the end “it was the most fascinating experience.”

Thibodeau completed her training two years ago. She appreciates the ongoing education and support she receives and plans to continue.

“I really enjoy the whole atmosphere,” she said.

Hospice of Eastern Maine, which became an agency program of Bangor Area Visiting Nurses in 1999, will provide a volunteer training program 5:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Oct. 14-Nov. 18, in the office at Eastern Maine Healthcare Mall, 885 Union St., Suite 220.

One of the services hospice volunteers provide is respite for caregivers so they can “do something normal,” such as go out to eat, said Wayne Melanson.

“You need to have a break from the crisis,” he said of caregivers. “The volunteers do a very fine job in providing that.”

Not all volunteers in the Hospice of Eastern Maine program work with patients. Some work in the Memorial Garden in Chapin Park, others work in the office or at health fairs.

“Volunteers also work on fund raising, special events such as the memorial service and recognition dinner, and speakers’ bureau,” Melanson said. However, those who work on the speakers’ bureau are all trained patient volunteers, because of the need to know how the hospice program works from a patient standpoint.

One of the Bangor area’s greatest needs is for people to understand “what hospice care is and how to access it,” said the former schoolteacher. A person may be terminally ill, but there is still “plenty of living to do,” and the essence of hospice care is “bringing quality of life to end of life.”

Like Melanson, Reita Abbott, director of Home Health and Hospice of St. Joseph, and the program’s hospice coordinator, Jane Folsom, said there was a need for community awareness of what hospice programs have to offer.

“People [dealing with end of life issues] need support and education. They need system management,” Folsom said.

“Unfortunately, only about 4 percent of people who qualify for hospice services actually access them,” Abbott said.

Even patients who are not expected to live beyond 24 hours may access hospice services, Abbott and Folsom said. By doing so, families get support they may need, including becoming part of the hospice bereavement program, which follows families for a year after the death of their loved one.

New this fall, Home Health and Hospice of St. Joseph offers a pilot, flexible training program for new volunteers.

People’s lives have “changed dramatically” since the hospice program began, Abbott said. While volunteers are required to take certain components of the training, the flexible program affords the opportunity to customize, she said. And because it is a pilot program, there is ongoing assessment and feedback.

“We’re evaluating it each step of the way,” Folsom said.

The flexible program offers the opportunity for new volunteers to build a relationship with Folsom, and affords her the chance to observe volunteers’ strengths and weaknesses – and direct them accordingly.

“So far the new volunteers are enthusiastic about it,” she said.

Topics for the Hospice of Eastern Maine volunteer training program include hospice philosophy, the nature of grief and loss, cancer and the role of the physician in patient care, and a funeral home tour. Instructors include Wayne Melanson, registered nurse and hospice manager Maureen Perry, and medical director of hospice Dr. Chris Ritter. The program is limited to 21 participants and the registration deadline is Oct. 10.

For information about programs and services offered at Hospice of Eastern Maine, call Wayne Melanson at 973-8269. For information about programs and services offered at Home Health and Hospice of St. Joseph, call Reita Abbott or Jane Folsom at 262-1810. Other hospices in the area include New Hope Hospice, 843-7521; and hospice services of Community Health and Counseling, 947-0366.