Welcome back to Good Day Stateline,
we have transition to hospice here
with us again, of course, on Veterans Day,
we're going to talk a little bi about veterans.
So we have Dr. Kapoor and Eileen.
Hello. Hello, and thanks for coming in.
So for anyone maybe who's new to transition,
just give us a little here,
a little spiel about what you guys do, right?
So we are a full service hospic and palliative care company,
so we do both and they're different.
Palliative care is typically a comprehensive approach
with any good internist or primary care practitioner
to kind of start talking about goals, delineating plan of care
and to identify symptom management needs.
As a patient gets diagnosed with an advancing illness.
And then we have the hospice piece to share.
OK, so Eileen, how do you fit i with all of it?
So I am the volunteer
coordinator, so I recruit volunteers
and we are always in need of volunteers
and we have them sit with patients for companionship
or give respite care for the caregiver.
That's awesome.
So why do you think that's so important?
Especially, you know, we're talking on Veterans Day
and I know you came dressed for the for the chat.
Tell us why that's so important
I do.
There's a program called We Honor Veterans.
I'm very passionate about this program
because I feel all of our veterans,
no matter where they served, what role they served
in, need to be respected and honored, especially during
their last journey.
So how did the volunteers and the veterans all get
you know this together?
So my goal is to recruit veteran volunteers
so we can have a vet to vet
sitting, and it's called the Vietnam Vet program,
and it's amazing when you get veterans
together, they have an instant connection
They know the same language.
They understand where each othe have come from.
So it's an instant bond, which is very impactful
for the hospice patient who's a veteran.
I bet we've talked before about how, you know,
sometimes individuals are in hospice
and they have a huge family who's there or friends,
but sometimes people are alone
or at least don't have the ability
to have that many people there consistently.
So maybe that's where your volunteers come in as well
Oh, yeah, definitely.
And the caregiver, oftentimes if they're the only one,
they need a break outside of the house
because it's emotionally, physically exhausting.
So to have that break
and sometimes family members just get tired of helping
the person caring for their loved one,
or because sometimes people are involved
with hospice for a long time, right?
Right.
And truly,
I know that it's probably a very rewarding experience
to not only be involved as a volunteer, but to
participate in that dignified journey to
to their their last breath.
I know that we definitely honor the veterans
and today is such a special day and we're so happy that Eileen
can, you know, elaborate on how we serve veterans.
So, you know, how are we honoring veterans fo
how they've served in addition to the vet to that program?
So typically through the month of November, will partner
with facilities and do we honor veterans pinning ceremony
where we provide a pin a card thanking them for their service
have little refreshments, play music
and do a little poem or speech
thanking them and honoring them for their tim
that they've given to our country.
That's so nice.
So I guess the one thing
where we kind of miss this, how do you call you?
How do we get in touch with you if we want to be a volunteer?
How does the volunteer program actually work? Sure.
So to become a volunteer,
there's lots of paperwork, just like applying for a job.
We do background check, we do TB tests,
we vet everyone because they're going
into people's homes and are approving that.
And then there's training and there's continual training,
little by little, piece by piece to prepare you.
And as a coordinator, I'm there to support the volunteers
Should any questions come up or what should have I done
that kind of thing?
When you decide to be a volunteer,
what is the length of that role like?
Is this for everyone or is this for someone
that has a lot of time to commi to this volunteer position?
It could be for everyone we asked just for commitment
of one to three hours a week.
OK, if you have more, of course that would be great.
And to go in and visit our patients
wherever they call home, whethe it's their home or a facility.
I love that
and I love that there's so many different opportunities
people are looking for
ways to help others, and this i such an important one. Yes.
And we're so thankful
to all of the veterans for what you've done
for our country and for us.
And you know, we want to honor you in the mos
dignified fashion as well.
Well, thank you, ladies. So much for coming in today.
We'll be right back. The preceding segment
was sponsored by Transition's Hospice.