Hospices are struggling to meet the increasing demand. Last year, Twelve Thousand People Stayed in a Hospice, An Increase or 11 percent. NU.nl Spoke to Two Volunteers who work in a hospice. “Sometimes they come from a society where they have leg rejected.”
Annelies Dorgelo (57) First Came Into Contact With a Hospice When Her Mother died. “She unexpectedly had metastatic ovarian cancer and spent her last week in a hospice. My Sister and I Were with Her in Her Last Days.”
That experience made a deep impression. “This was the most beautiful and terrible week of my life,” Says Dorgelo. “You say goodbye to your mother, but the fact that we were allowed to stay there with her was very special. In the hospital, there is little time for family, but in a hospice, the Emphasis is on family.”
“You are not distracted by social media. All masks come off and love and togetherness prevail. You completely surrender to it.”
The fact that Dorgelo Stayed with Her Mother in the Hospice is The Reason She Now Works in a Hospice in Southast Brabant, Two Years later. “In The Hospice, I Found My Purpose in the Field of Meaning and I, Already Preparation for this. I also have an illness myself: Progressive Ms.”
Dorgelo Now Works One Afternoon Every Two Week in The Hospice and also Runs Her Own Coaching Practice. But she is going to change that. “I am winding down so that I can do more Volunteer work at the end of the year. Then the intention is that I will work there is one week.”
‘I Connect with the resident’
In The Hospice, Dorgelo, Like Other Volunteers, Performs Household Tasks, Such as making coffee and doing the dishes. She also has a special role as a welfare volunter. “My Strength is Making Connections with Residents. I see contact so that they can talk about their lives, Fears, and Sorrows.”
That contact sometimes arises through something small. “I simply ask if they are having a good day or because Something. And if making contact is difficult, I start, for example, about an object that I see in the resident’s room.”
Dorgelo Has Already Experienced Special Moments. “A few weeks ago, a woman taught my hand and said:” I am afraid to die. ” I Took Both Her Hands and Said: “Tell Me.”
Farewell with a smile
Sometimes One Short Conversation is Enough. “Another Time there was a man who did’s because to talk. I saw a book about technology and when I started talking about it, he perked up and smiled. We were never able to have a second conversation Because he was no smile with a smile with, but we said goodbye.”
Dorgelo’s Story is Just One of the Many Personal Experiences That Make Working in A Hospice Special. Joke Boerma, coordinator at Hospice Zwolle, also Shares Her Experiences.
Boerma Forms The Link Between Residents, Family, and Healthcare Professionals and Leads A Hundred Volunteers. “I work here 24 hours a week, but I am also always av by the Evenings and Weekends.”
It is Difficult to say what a day looks like. “No day is the same. You never know when some who and every own own specific wishes. One wants to be left alone, the other sexes contact. Everyone own own stands and as a coordinator, you have to find out.”
A Death Sometimes Requires Quick Action. “The Question is Always Whether there is Still Family and How Many Family Members are present. I Once had to call a family member to announce a Possible Death.”
“You don’t want to be here”
Accordance to Boerma, the trick is to give residents the feeling that they matter, Despite Everything. “When you come here, you know you are going to die. You don’t actual Want to be here. We want to loower that threshold.”
“We now have a woman who was sitting alone in her living room at home, but here she has leg lying outside for three days and enjoy the wind blowing through her hair.
Especiate Residents with a Small Network Stay With Her. “Sometimes they come from a society where they have leg rejected. It is nice to be able to fulfill a number of small wishes.”
Those Wishes are very different. “For one, that is an eel, for the other a massage. Sometimes there are more poignant cases, Such as people who have no clothes at all. We also had some of 101 years whose great wish was to Become 102. Unfortunately, this day, so day’s week.”