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Education among many benefits for Hospice volunteers

Times Observer photo by Stacey Gross Jill Curtis, Education and Outreach Coordinator for the greater pennsylvania chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, presented on the ways in which the Alzheimer’s Association and Hospice organizations can work together when it comes to patients facing the many kinds of dementia.

What’s the sixth leading cause of death both nationally and in the state of Pennsylvania?

Dementia.

While it’s not a diagnosis itself, dementia is an umbrella term for a set of symptoms that are severe enough to interfere with daily life. Emotional and metabolic disorders, brain tumors, dehydration, sensory loss, vitamin deficiencies, infections, and medication interactions can cause reversible symptoms of dementia, but some symptoms of dementia, and some forms of the issue, are irreversible.

Alzheimer’s Disease is just one of those, although most people recognize it by name. Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, and Korsakoff’s Syndrome are other irreversible forms of dementia.

All of this information and more was offered to volunteers with Hospice of Warren County Tuesday evening at the Warren Public Library during HOWC’s third volunteer meet and greet and education session.

“Educational opportunities like this are just one of the many perks of being a hospice volunteer,” said HOWC Volunteer Coordinator Barbie Zingone. Volunteers with HOWC receive multiple opportunities to learn about issues related to hospice and palliative care, terminal illnesses that may present themselves at the agency, and general education on other end-of-life issues.

For Alzheimer’s patients, said Jill Curtis, Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Greater Pennsylvania chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, the burden of providing care that families experience can be great as the disease progresses, which it does in all cases.

“There is no cure, and some symptoms can be managed with medication but that’s a highly personal choice that each family makes on its own,” said Curtis.

Caregivers for family members with Alzheimer’s face expanded challenges to the typical issues faced in terminal illnesses in that dementia-related diseases cause a progressive change in personality as well as functionality.

So as their loved ones become more dependent on physical care, caregivers are often facing losing the person they knew their loved one to be their whole lives.

“Hospice is for families as well as patients,” said Curtis, and when it comes to dementia-related disorders, hospice organizations can be just as beneficial to families of patients as they are to the patients themselves. Sometimes, said Curtis, hospice aid can be more beneficial to families as the disease progresses.

Curtis presented information on dementia-related diseases Tuesday evening, but also touched on how dementia and hospice care can dovetail, offering ideas on how volunteers can interact optimally with both patients and families when dementia is an element of the patients care profile.

Volunteers with HOWC can do anything from visiting patients bedside at home or in hospitals or skilled nursing facilities to sending bereaved families holiday cards. There are a multitude of ways for anyone with an interest in helping the organization provide the greatest possible quality of life to those at the ends of their lives using their unique talents and gifts, said Zingone.

Anyone with an interest in becoming a volunteer with HOWC, said Zingone, can contact her by calling the HOWC office at (814) 723-2455 ext. 3953.

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