The U.S. hospice movement was founded by volunteers and there is continued commitment to volunteer
service. NHPCO (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization) estimates that in 2008, 550,000 hospice volunteers provided 25 million hours of service. Hospice volunteers provide service in three general areas:
• Spending time with patients and families (“direct patient care”)
• Providing clerical and other services that support patient care and clinical services (“clinical support”)
• Helping with fundraising efforts and/or the board of directors (“general support”).
In 2008, most volunteers were assisting with direct patient care (61.2%), 28.3% provided patient care support and 16.8% provided general support. Hospice is unique in that it is the only provider whose Medicare Conditions of Participation requires volunteers to provide at least five percent of total patient care hours. In 2008, 6% of all clinical staff hours were provided by volunteers. The typical hospice volunteer devoted 46.8 hours of service over the course of the year and patient care volunteers made an average of 20 visits to hospice patients.
