ABSTRACT
Volunteers are an essential
part of the hospice movement, which is designed to provide services to the
terminally ill, their families, and friends, in a manner that allows death to
be as dignified and peaceful as possible. Motivations for volunteering, attitudes
about death and dying, and demographic characteristics were assessed in this
survey study of Maine
hospice volunteers (573 females, 128 males).
The extent to which religious and spiritual beliefs were
associated with volunteers’ ability to cope with the many aspects of death and
dying that they confront were also examined. Based on responses to a
standardized instrument, the Collett-Lester Fear of Death and Dying Scale, respondents’
reported relatively low levels of death anxiety and high levels of death awareness
for themselves and others in their lives.
The most common reasons for becoming a hospice volunteer
were: desiring to help persons in need, wanting to ease the pain of those in
hospice programs, having unique expertise to contribute, wanting to fulfill a
civic responsibility, and wanting to fulfill a religious obligation. Sixty-five
percent of the sample reported that spiritual beliefs had a major influence on
their ability to cope with death and dying. The results provide information
that can be of assistance in the recruitment, training, and education of
hospice volunteers in Maine.
