For over a decade, a thousand hospice programs have relied on JoAnne Chitwood's My Gift: Myself Medicare approved training program to educate staff and volunteers in providing professional, compassionate care for the terminally ill patient. Now, the entire training program has been revised and completely rewritten in this 272 page Volunteer Manual. The manual is designed as a workbook for the newly refilmed 7 DVD My Gift: Myself training series, but can be used alone as an excellent training tool and reference guide for hospice volunteers. The Hospice Volunteer Manual presents seven comprehensive chapters of training covering: 1. What's It All About? "Concepts in End Of Life Care" where caregivers explore the Hospice concept and learn what end of life care is all about. 2. What Can I Do? "Activities and Interventions" that caregivers can engage in to provide effective comfort and support to their patients and patient families. 3. The Greatest Gift "Learning to Listen With Love" focuses on developing the communication skills that are at the heart of successful support systems. 4. Physical Care "When A Patient Is Dying" describes what to expect from patients with different diagnoses and how to provide the best final care. 5. Things Of The Spirit "Providing Spiritual Care" coaches caregivers on ways to be sensitive to a dying person's spiritual needs. 6. A Time For Grief "Understanding The Grief Process" looks at one of the most important parts of care of the terminally ill: offering effective and appropriate support for the grieving family. Here caregivers learn how to process their own grief and to understand the grief of others. 7. Caring For You "Focusing on Healthy Self Care" addresses how to prevent burnout by understanding the signs of stress and learning ways to diminish its impact