Our number of spanish-speaking only patients is growing guickly. In order for the patient to completely understand what is happening to him or her, a Spanish-speaking volunteer is invaluable. Direct Patient Volunteers serve both patients and families in their home and/or nursing facilities. Volunteers are required to visit their patient once a week, and occasionally more often until the patient has been kept up to date on the actions taken to keep him or her comfortable and knowledgable about the diagnosis of his or her illness. The volunteer should be accumulating a total of a minimum of four hours a month. Activities might include socializing with the patient and/or family, reading to or writing for the patient, playing cards, dominoes, checkers, etc. Listening to music, doing small household tasks, listening to a life-review or simply being a presence. A volunteer might simply sit with a patient while a care-giver runs errands. A volunteer is usually very creative in making a good visit with their patient. Training classes are offered to provide help in doing so.

Periodically the 'translator' part of volunteering can be done simply by phone, speaking with our staff and the non-english speaking patient or care giver.