Volunteer opportunities abound with HCI Hospice

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HCI Hospice Volunteer Coordinator Hannah Sadlacek, left, was welcomed to the Tuesday meeting of the Perry Kiwanis Club by new Perry Kiwanian and HCI Hospice Chaplain Kevin Vryhof. Photo courtesy Perry Kiwanis Club Secretary Doug Wood

Hannah Sedlacek, HCI Hospice volunteer coordinator, recently spoke at a Tuesday meeting of the Perry Kiwanis Club.

Sedlacek discussed volunteer opportunities with the hospice group and introduced the Veteran to Veteran Volunteer program.

Sedlacek said hospice is a program that provides care and support for people and their caregivers who are actively dying. This program is covered under Medicare A and other insurances policies. HCI staff will assist in finding coverage for the program, she said.

Sedlacek also said 5 percent of hospice services must be provided by volunteers, and that is where she comes in.

A person may volunteer as much or little as they like, she said. There is an almost unlimited number of ways a person may volunteer with the hospice program.

For example, a volunteer might provide respite services for a hospice patient’s caregivers. This allows caregivers to get away for a while. Oftentimes, there are errands, such as grocery shopping, that the caregiver needs to run.

At other times, volunteers just give caregivers a break from care giving, which when performed 24 hours a day for several days at a stretch can be physically, mentally and emotionally draining.

Volunteers can also visit with hospice patients, Sedlacek said. Others can perform many chores, such as lawn care, snow removal, small repairs, running errands or providing transportation, just to name a few other ways that people can help hospice patients and their caregivers.

Sedlacek discussed the new Veteran to Veteran program that HCI Hospice is starting. HCI Hospice believes that military veterans in hospice would be better served by other veterans who would have faced similar situations in the military and combat. There is a better bond between those who have served in similar situations.

Sedlacek also shared other examples of volunteer service. The HCI Giving Tree Thrift Store sells gently used items, with proceeds going to benefit hospice patients and their families.

The Pet Peace of Mind Program lets volunteers care for the pets of hospice patients. In the related Pet Visitors Program, volunteers bring pets to visit the hospice patients and caregivers.

In the 11th Hour Program, volunteers are with patients and families during the final 48 to 72 hours of life of the hospice patient.

In the Tuck-In Program, volunteers will call patients and their families to make sure they have all their necessary supplies and services, particularly just before the weekend.

The Speakers Bureau Program sends volunteers into the public to assist with presentations of hospice services.

In the Life Review Program, volunteers record interviews with patients to be left for their loved ones, and in Storybook Memories, volunteers assist in recording a reading of a story book that can be left for a special little one in their life.

To learn more about these and other volunteer opportunities with HCI Hospice, contact Sedlacek at 515-333-5810, 800-806-9934 or hsedlacek@hcicareservices.org.

New Perry Kiwanis member and HCI Hospice Chaplain Kevin Vryhof welcomed Sedlacek to the meeting on behalf of the membership.

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