North Country Home Health & Hospice Agency, an affiliate of North Country Healthcare, which serves all of Coös and Grafton counties, will offer hospice volunteer training in July.

This training is free and open to community members from all over the North Country who are interested in being involved in the hospice program, or who would like to learn more about end-of-life care and issues of death and dying, for personal and/or professional reasons.

Training will be offered in person from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on July 14 and July 21 at Weeks Medical Center. Alyssa Lennon, director of hospice and palliative care, and Jillian Walsh, hospice and palliative care manager, will facilitate this two-day course.

Topics to be presented and contemplated include the history and philosophy of hospice, perspectives on death and dying, self-care, communication and listening skills, signs of impending death and comfort care, grief and loss, and care of spirit.

Participants can decide after completing the program if they wish to continue and join the NCHHHA Hospice Volunteer Program. The opportunities hospice volunteers can provide for patients include companionship and respite care, sitting vigil in the last hours, supportive tasks in the home (i.e., cooking, walking the dog), bereavement support, hospice administrative assistance, and professional services (i.e., massage therapy, reiki, grooming, music therapy – all professional services require proof of licensure/certification depending on profession).

Pre-registration is required. To register for the training, please visit the Volunteer Opportunities section of the NCHHHA website: nchhha.org/volunteer-opportunities.

For further information or questions, please contact Lennon or Walsh at 603-444-5317, or email [email protected] or [email protected].