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Volunteer Makes a Difference in the Lives of Patients, Families During End-of-Life Journey

Volunteering with VNA Care’s hospice program has been part of Debbie Krieg’s life for more than two decades. Those years have given her the opportunity to get to know many wonderful people in our community who would otherwise never have come into her life.

“Being a hospice volunteer is very gratifying. We get as much out of the experience as the patient or the family being helped,” said Debbie.

Her volunteer work with VNA Care’s hospice has been so meaningful that Debbie continued volunteering after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis last summer and for much of the time she underwent a successful treatment in the coming months.

The needs of each patient and family guides how Debbie spends her visits. One patient with dementia was no longer able to speak, but the patient’s husband enjoyed the opportunity to simply have someone to talk to each time Debbie came to their home.

Another of Debbie’s patients was a retired engineer in his 80s with end-stage congestive heart failure. He loved playing cribbage. When he learned Debbie didn’t know how to play the card game, he took on the role of teacher.

Her visits over the course of one year were devoted to the game, and his children sometimes joined the fun. On the occasion that Debbie won, the patient would tell Debbie that she was “coming along.”

Even as the patient’s time drew short and he became very weak, he wanted to continue playing cribbage with Debbie. She’d hold up his cards for him, and he’d point at which ones he wanted to play. She’d then look at her own hand, and they would make their way through a game. The patient never talked about his illness or his personal life. Yet, when Debbie attended his wake, everyone knew about her and the time they spent together playing cribbage.

Debbie isn’t the only one in her family who is devoted to improving the quality of life for those facing a terminal illness. Among her siblings and cousins are two more hospice volunteers, two hospice nurses, and a hospice physician.

Growing up on a dairy farm, Debbie shared, “There was a lot of life and death on our farm. Of course, that’s different than people. But it was very much sad at times, and that’s just how it was. All of us grew up with the idea that death was part of life.”

When people learn that Debbie is a hospice volunteer, they often ask her about the topics she discusses with patients, unsure that they themselves would know what to say to someone who’s terminally ill. The Red Sox and weather are always good conversations starters, according to Debbie, but it’s most important to remember that these patients “are just regular people.” Her conversations aren’t based on the fact that they are dying, but that they are here with us now.

Learn more about becoming a hospice volunteer.