Volunteer Interviews

People sometimes express surprise that I want to sit down and have a little chat with them before they're invited to participate in our volunteer training program. In addition to being a hospice requirement, it's also a good idea. Although most people mean well (I say "most," because in the past I'm told we had one person who thought it would be fine to get himself written into the patient's will and stormed out of class in a huff when told otherwise), some have misperceptions about what hospice is, others have grandiose ideas of their contribution, some are there more for their own attention than the patients and families and others need fine-tuning over what's acceptable and what's not in dealing with patients and families.

A lady in one of our training classes piped up to share with the group that after her mother's death, she attended a bereavement group and decided it wasn't for her because the other participants had "needs" that she didn't. She went on to say that a member of the group had apparently had a rather domineering spouse and she had wanted to tell her that she was far better off without him and should be glad he was dead.

Yes, well clearly she has some extensive training yet.

One of the things we're taught is that you'll never change family dynamics and shouldn't try. You can't know a family's years and years of history and/or the triggers that make individuals crazy. Additionally, people choose to stay in situations for any number of reasons and to assume that if the relationship was troubled they shouldn't bother to mourn, is thoughtless at best.

Pre-class interviews reveal interesting things if the questions are crafted to elicit opinions. For instance, there was the one prospective volunteer who, when asked how she might respond if a patient's spouse offered her one of his wife's diamond rings as thanks, thought about it a good long while and finally said that she'd say "no," but if he insisted, she wouldn't want to insult him. - Uh, right.

Evey now and then, I'll end up with a pet therapist who's unhappy because the dog isn't getting enough attention. Once again, the focus is off. If the volunteer is there for people to fawn over the dog, he's there for the wrong reason. Another example of why it's a good idea to try to ascertain someone's interest in volunteering.

We get a few indignant people who feel that if they're willing to volunteer, we should be grateful for their time and that asking them to come in for an interview is way too much. Well, now they know the reason. I find it a revealing and indispensible process.