VOLUNTEER TRAINING COURSES

Volunteer training courses are offered twice a year at the Camarillo Hospice office. The course consists of 24 hours of training, scheduled over 8 consecutive weeks (one 3-hour meeting per week). Bereavement training involves an additional 7-hour class. In addition to being a requirement for direct patient and client volunteering, these courses are open to the public for general community education. As with all Camarillo Hospice services, there is no charge for the training courses. The courses include, but are not limited to:

• The history of hospice in general and Camarillo Hospice specifically.
• The impact of a life-threatening illness on the patient and family.
• Medical aspects of the hospice patient.
• Someone you love is dying—how do you cope?
• Listening skills—compassionate communication.
• Caregiver burnout.
• Overview of counseling services: You're not alone.
• Loss and bereavement/family dynamics.
• The volunteer's role in relation to the hospice patient.
• A panel of Camarillo Hospice volunteers sharing their hospice experiences.
• Spiritual care of the hospice patient.
• An overview of special programs (casserole, family history, music therapy and pet therapy).
• Grief as a natural process
• The "feeling states" of grief
• The Hospice philosophy of grief
• "Normal" vs. "abnormal" grief
• Helping the bereaved

Friendly Visitor volunteers complete a condensed training of nine hours, focused on listening skills and the role of a friendly visitor volunteer. Bereavement volunteers fulfill an additional seven hours of training specific to the grieving process after graduation from the full Volunteer Training Course.