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The Berlin Citizen — Thursday, February 9, 2012
Volunteers Continued from page 15 comforting human touch. Muscles may be contracted and stiff. Patients may spend their days immobile in a recliner or bed. Knowledgeable massage therapists and Reiki volunteers offer compassionate touch, relaxation, a sense of well-being and emotional health. For the volunteer, getting to know someone at the end of life is a gift in itself. VITAS Innovative Hospice Care of Connecticut is looking for licensed massage therapists or Reiki practitioners to visit patients in their homes and nursing facilities in southeastern Connecticut. All VITAS volunteers receive orientation in end-oflife care. VITAS massagetherapy volunteers must have a current massage license. VITAS Reiki volunteers must have a level 1 Reiki certificate. For more information or to volunteer, call VITAS Manager of Volunteer Services Pat Wilson at (860) 494-4600.
We’re helping women get healthy with robotics The Hospital of Central Connecticut is using advanced robotic surgery to treat a variety of gynecological conditions in women. These include hysterectomies, cancers of the female reproductive system and non cancerous conditions including endometriosis and uterine fibroid removal. The robot’s tiny little tools allow our surgeons to make the smallest possible incisions, and to more easily access difficult-to-reach areas. Patients may recover faster, have fewer side effects, and experience less pain and scarring. For more information, visit www.thocc.org/robotics. For a physician referral, call 800-321-6244.
Road to Recovery
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The American Cancer Society is looking for volunteers to drive cancer patients to their treatment appointments, through its Road to Recovery program. Treatments patients are often too sick to drive. A cancer patient who receives radiation therapy might require between 20 to 30 trips to the clinic within six weeks. Chemotherapy patients might receive weekly treatments for up to a year. Volunteers receive training, orientation and are asked to volunteer for at least one hour, one day, once a month. The Road to Recovery program will match drivers’ availability with the needs of patients. For more information or to volunteer, contact Bonnie Baldwin at (203) 563-1529 or bonnie.baldwin@cancer.org.
Hospice Rachel Lamonica, M.D.; Clare Zhou, M.D.; Danielle E. Luciano, M.D.; Anthony A. Luciano, M.D.; Gerard M. Roy, M.D.; and Richard J. Driess, M.D.
VNA HealthCare Hospice is recruiting hospice volunteers who are interested in making a positive impact in the lives of local residents facing life-limiting illness
VNA HealthCare Hospice volunteers play an important role in terms of being directly involved in patient care. Volunteers perform tasks such as staying with a patient so the family can take a break, providing companionship to hospice patients and their caregivers, running errands for a patient and/or family members, providing administrative office support among other things. Training classes are available for those interested in becoming a hospice volunteer. The goal of the training is to help define the role of a hospice volunteer, and it covers the history and philosophy of hospice, team building, help with communicating effectively, ways to manage death, dying, and bereavement, and concepts of spirituality. For more information about the VNA HealthCare Hospice Volunteer program, call Donna Gordon at (860) 493-7349 or dgordon@vnahealthcare.org.
Medical center Volunteers provide invaluable assistance and support to all areas of MidState Medical Center. Volunteers are needed in the nursing units to assist patients with meals at breakfast, lunch and dinner time. Special training is provided for those accepted into this special “Meal Mates” volunteer program. There is also high demand for volunteers in our newly expanded Emergency Department in both clinical and non-clinical areas. Book Cart volunteers visit patients, offer free books and magazines as well as friendly conversation. These volunteers are also trained as “Fall Prevention Safety” volunteers who check bed and chair alarms to ensure they are in proper working order and encourage the patient to use the call button to “call before you fall”. Patients at MidState are treated to relaxing “Soft Touch” hand rubs and foot rubs by well-trained MidState volunteers. If you are interested in this very specialized volunteer role, there will be training in the techSee Volunteers, page 22