I chose to volunteer with hospice after having lost three of my grandparents, who all benefitted from end-of-life care from various hospice programs. Each of their situations were extremely different in terms of the kind of care they needed, considering that their conditions included congenital heart disease, Parkinson’s, and ALS. I felt that I had a good amount of firsthand experience with death that could help me connect with other terminally ill or near death patients. However, making connections with dying strangers was completely different from what I had experienced with family members. There are some patients who physically have a lot of expected time left to live, but who have lost hope. Then there are other patients who physically don’t have a lot of expected time left to live, but who are so full of light and hope that you would never know they were dying. The Athena Institute allowed me to be inspired by health care that includes death and all of its forms.
The first hospice patient that I had been assigned to was someone who severely suffered from aphasia, post stroke. Prior to meeting my patient, I had known about the disorder, but had no experience in communicating with someone who had acquired it. During my first visit, I quickly learned the importance of patience, being attentive, and being understanding to make my patient feel comfortable and encouraged as opposed to frustrated. I was lucky to have an extremely good tempered, optimistic, and talkative patient despite their condition. Over time I had learned the communicative meaning behind my patient’s gestures, the right questions to ask a patient with aphasia, and learned to highly value my ability to communicate without any limitations. Prior to meeting and spending many hours over the course of a few months with my patient, my communication skills had never been tested as intensely. I am very grateful to my first hospice patient for having given me the opportunity to learn how to overcome communication barriers and how to appreciate my own capability of communication.
The Athena Institute Hospice Volunteer Program has given me an invaluable experience for my future career aspirations and my own personal growth. Our society often perceives death as some sort of taboo or unspeakable event. Everyday doctors and surgeons diagnose people with every intention to treat and save their patients. Often, health professionals perceive the death or dying process of a patient as a failure on their part, causing a large misunderstanding and weakness within the relationship between the healthcare system and death itself. How can society at large understand and appreciate death if even health care professionals fail to make goodness out of death? I strongly believe that the best health care providers are those who can help patients die better.
To die well is to be comfortable and not in pain, to find mental or spiritual solace, and to reach closure with family, friends, or anything else that will be left behind to cause distress. Not only understanding what it is to die well, but being able to give patients a better death through palliative care and a variety of resources, is crucial to being a true health care professional. I have learned to find comfort in being near death and learned to want that comfort for dying patients through the Athena Institute. I plan to apply for medical school upon completing my undergraduate education and know that having volunteered with hospice has granted me the knowledge, experience, and comfort with death that even some seasoned professionals have not acquired.