ThedaCare At Home Hospice-Shawano has something new to help people who are facing life-limiting illness. A dog therapy program is starting in Shawano County.
“We’re looking for volunteers with our program,” said Angie Krueger, Shawano hospice volunteer coordinator.
Dogs and their owners will go through comprehensive training at no cost to them and can then assist patients with pain control, reduce anxiety or depression, or just bring a smile to patients’ faces.
The volunteers should have excellent interpersonal skills and be able to interact with many different people. The dogs must be at least 1 year old, calm and gentle with people while in unfamiliar settings. Molly Johnson, owner of Canine Comfort, will provide the training.
“We have it running in the Fox Valley and Waupaca,” said Teri Metropulos, hospice manager for all locations. “We have found that it provides wonderful value to patients.”
It is just one more way that hospice brings expert care and comfort to patients in their own home, a nursing home, assisted living or community-based facility. The volunteers, who go through extensive training, give the caregiver respite and companionship to patients. They also offer other services such as taping the patient’s life story and creating scrapbooks.
“We can never repay our volunteers for what they give our patients and families,” Metropulos said. “Being a volunteer for individuals in the last phase of their lives allows us to cherish every moment of our own.”
Patients can go on hospice for six months. If they improve after that, they can be on hospice later if their health declines again.
“They find that patients who are on hospice live longer than terminal patients who weren’t on hospice,” said Kathy Micoley, a registered nurse and Shawano team leader. “It’s a rewarding thing to give patients end of life care. People misunderstand hospice as being focused on death and dying when the true focus of hospice is about life and quality of life.”
Hospice is helped by Friends of Hospice, which will host its 13th annual ladies golf outing July 31 at Golden Sands Golf Club in Cecil. The organization supports the education of volunteers and provides extras for patients. Members have been assisting in the planning for the hospice suite at the new medical center.
“We couldn’t be the program we are without their support,” Metropulos said.
There are currently 32 hospice volunteers. However, hospice would like more volunteers.
“Being a volunteer for hospice will change your life forever because what you receive is more than what you will ever give,” Krueger said.
A new training session for volunteers begins at the end of August. For more information, call Krueger at 715-460-1280.
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