Hospice Program

When anti-retrovirus medications dramatically reduced the number of those in the developed world dying because of HIV/AIDS, The Heart Touch Project enlarged its focus to include other chronically or terminally ill individuals. In keeping with inspiration that led Shawnee Isaac Smith to begin Heart Touch, we shifted our core training—Heart Touch Training in Compassionate Touch—to prepare healthcare workers to provide compassionate, caring touch to those in hospice.

For those who have taken the core training and are currently or recently working with a hospice client, an additional training is available, the Advanced Heart Touch Training in End-of-Life Care.

The goal of hospice is to maximize the quality of the life for those with terminal illnesses rather than to continue a course of medical treatment aimed at a cure. Hospice uses a team-oriented approach to expert medical attention, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support to help those in their care. The Heart Touch trained volunteer is part of that hospice team who creates a world of comfort around a person at the end of life.

Those who have taken the basic Heart Touch training offer a unique service. Relying primarily on the power of touch as an avenue of communication, volunteers are able to reassure terminally ill persons that they are not alone, which can reduce anxiety. Compassionate touch also can alleviate discomfort while calming those who are agitated or distraught.

Terminally ill persons often have limited physical mobility, diminished energy and reduced contact with friends. Their world shrinks dramatically. Heart Touch trained volunteers help keep that avenue to the world open. Hospice clients feel acknowledged and supported through their final days.

During the Heart Touch training, individuals are assigned to one of our eight partner hospice organizations, based on the participant’s proximity to the hospice. The hospice volunteer coordinator matches the volunteer with a client. It is the client and the volunteer who decide on a meeting day and time that fits both their schedules. Typically a volunteer makes a commitment of one year of service to the hospice.

We are pleased to have established relationships with these hospice groups in the Southern California area.

  • Buena Vista Hospice
  • Hospice Care of the West
  • Hospice Partners of Southern California
  • Kaiser Permanente Hospice (Valley Office)
  • Roze Room Hospice
  • St. Michael Hospice
  • Skirball Hospice
  • TrinityCare Hospice
  • VITAS Hospice

In addition to the benefits of massage for a hospice population given above, research has shown that there are measurable benefits that massage and caring touch offers for those at the end of life. Here are a few.

  • Increases body awareness
  • Grounds those who are spatially disoriented
  • Reinforces a positive body image, helping the individual to cope with physical debilitation
  • Can enhance circulation and reduce swelling
  • Can help joint and muscle function
  • Improves energy level
  • Helps delay muscle atrophy
  • Improves skin textures and general tone of tissue
  • Reduces the need for drug intervention and physical restraints

Additional information on the benefits of touch and massage for a hospice population can be found in our Resources and Research listing.

Heart Touch is a pioneer in the training of massage therapists to work with the terminally ill. It is our vision that massage would be available through every hospice as a standard care.

For the Calendar of upcoming trainings for hospice volunteering, click here.

For Application Forms for the trainings, click here.

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