Hospice of Eastern Maine (HOEM), a part of VNA Home Health Hospice, has scheduled its 2017 volunteer training course on six consecutive Mondays, October 9-November 13, from 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. at the EMMC Healthcare Mall, 885 Union St., Bangor.

HOEM invites caring men and women in the greater Old Town/Orono area with daytime availability to apply for a seat in this fall’s class.

HOEM volunteers are compassionate people of all ages and backgrounds who share their time and friendship with people who have a life limiting illness. Volunteers live in a 25-mile radius of Bangor and generally provide 2 – 4 hours of support per week when assigned to a patient. HOEM volunteers serve both HOEM and Community Health and Counseling Services Hospice patients; volunteers serving patients are members of an interdisciplinary team that plans and delivers the patient’s care.

Our comprehensive training course is designed to help participants understand the dynamics of end-of-life and prepare them to effectively provide companionship, emotional support, respite, and bereavement care for hospice patients and their caregivers.

Hospice is holistic care that focuses on the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of patients and their family caregivers. Trained professionals provide the physical, psych-social, and spiritual aspects of care while hospice volunteers offer companionship and comfort care, such as, attentive listening, talking, playing games, reading, writing letters, recording memoirs, preparing a meal, or driving to appointments. Volunteers are generally assigned to one patient and family.

Hospice of Eastern Maine is the oldest hospice in the Bangor area and has been meeting the end-of-life needs in local communities, including Old Town, Alton, Bradley, Costigan, Greenbush, Milford, Orono, and Veazie since 1981.

For more information about becoming a patient care volunteer or to learn about other volunteer opportunities with Hospice of Eastern Maine, please call Wayne Melanson, Volunteer Coordinator at 275-2110 or e-mail wmelanson@emhs.org.

Aspiring patient care volunteers must complete an application and interview prior to October 6. Class size is limited to 12.