AHVRP Highlights

• 2012 AHVRP Annual Conference
  Omni Dallas Hotel
  Dallas, TX
  Dates: Sept. 19 - 22, 2012

MEMORIES VIDEOS
Mary Ameche, Director, Volunteer Services
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
200 Hawkins Drive Iowa City, IA52242
Phone: (319) 356-7318
Email: mary-ameche@uiowa.edu

Volunteer Services sponsors the creation of individual memory videos for patients battling life-threatening illnesses. Videos reflect the patient’s life through on-camera affirmations of family members, friends, doctors, nurses and others. A skilled volunteer compiles video and audio recordings, narrative and historical family pictures set to music to create a very special video scrapbook of the patient’s life. Families provide pictures they would like to include which are then interwoven with the video footage and edited with music added in the background. Interviews are done with family, friends and caregivers. Each patient/family receives five copies of the memory video/DVD at no charge. In many cases, these snapshots of a life become central to the grieving process and are often shown at visitations and memorial services to the many who have gathered to celebrate a life.

Throughout the existence of this service, relationships with nursing, child life and other staff/faculty has been key in developing the program, and in implementation by informing families and identifying appropriate patients. Staff share information on the programming with families and in this way, they receive the brochures and request forms from staff they know and trust. Approximately 20 patients receive videos each year. The volunteers providing this service travel a very special journey with patients and their families and know they have given a priceless gift.

PERSONAL TOUCH VOLUNTEER DEPARTMENT
Eleanor Whitehead, Director
Palmetto Health Baptist
Taylor at Marion Street
Columbia, SC 29220
Phone: (803) 296-5770
Email: eleanor.whitehead@palmettohealth.org

The Personal touch program currently has 97 carefully selected and thoroughly trained volunteers, members of the patient care team who serve as comfort-care specialists. They are recruited and trained primarily to provide hands-on comfort care to patients. They also provide emotional support to patients and their families, and support to nursing staff. The Persona Touch Volunteer (PTV) is trained by a licensed massage therapist to provide “the nursing backrub” for relaxation, comfort and enhancement of healing. The training is comprised of 21 classroom hours with labs, and addresses the following topics: Hospital and Patient Room Orientation; Advanced Communication Skills; Myers-Briggs Type Indicator; Grief, Loss and Bereavement; The Therapeutic Value of Touch in Healing; and Tools for Assertiveness. PTVs serve at least one weekly shift of at least four hours. In addition to the healing backrub, PTVs provide bed baths, ambulate and feed patients, assist with personal needs and stay with patients, relieving family members and providing emotional support or a simple diversion. PTVs are routinely involved in planning and the ongoing development of the program, including participating in “Think Tank” sessions, working as trainers, assisting in every applicant’s screening interview, recruiting new volunteers, etc. In the last fiscal year, 96,468 patients were served by PTVs

Once the artwork has been submitted, the Art Galaxy Committee mats, frames and hangs each piece. Artists are notified by postcard when their artwork will be on display (for many patients, this is the first time their artwork is displayed in an art gallery). When artwork is removed from the gallery, it is returned ready to hang at home, along with a certificate of appreciation to the artist. Families, patients, visitors, and staff have been enjoying the gallery for over three years and it has become a favored visual experience at Children’s Mercy Hospitals. It helps our patient-artists heal; and it helps everyone see the world with fresh eyes.

EXTRAORDINARY AWARD ARCHIVES

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