LEWISTON – Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice graduated another 17 people from their 27-hour training class that is held twice a year. The individuals are ready to be hospice volunteers, supporting and assisting those facing the end of life and their families.

The next hospice volunteer training course in Lewiston will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Sept. 22 through Nov. 17. The nine-week course is being co-sponsored by Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice and Lewiston Adult Education and will be held at Lewiston High School. For more information, call Nancy Greene, agency volunteer coordinator, at 777-7740 or 1-800-482-7412.

The graduates are Jason Rafferty, Joan Spitzform, Mary Madigan, Amy Lachance, Betsy Plummer, Sonia Karnes, Russell Moat, Kristin Burdick, Bob Chamberland, Jake Lariviere, Doris Bonneau, Barbara Shaw, Barbara Yeaton, Julie Lothrop, Dick Brophy, Don Hebert and Susan Therrien-Fenn.

The training program covers the needs of terminally ill patients and their caregivers, the hospice philosophy, communications and listening skills, the impact of illness on the family, spiritual aspects of dying, grief and bereavement, funeral arrangements and additional related topics.

Volunteers provide support to terminally ill patients and their families. Some patients live at home; others live in long-term care facilities. Volunteers are matched with people in or near their local communities. They visit patients regularly, sometimes staying a few hours so that the person’s caregiver can take a break. Hospice volunteers may also do errands, if requested, or provide other kinds of support.

The nonprofit, Medicare-certified agency provides skilled home care, supportive care, and hospice care for residents of Androscoggin, Franklin, Oxford, and northern Cumberland counties.

More information can be found at the agency’s Web site, ahch.org.