EMILY ALBERTS
“Expressions of Care, When You Can’t Be There”
While in her 40s, Emily Alberts had a friend in end-of-life care with a terminal cancer diagnosis. While many people – particularly those of a younger age – often find being in the presence of someone at such a vulnerable stage to be intimidating, this wasn’t the case for Emily. “It felt simple and it felt right”, is how she put it. This experience set Emily on the path of becoming a Hospice Family Care Giver, a role she has gratefully dedicated herself to for over nine years now.
Her dedication and devotion to this role were challenged when COVID changed everything around. Suddenly, in-person visits were no longer possible. Would simple phone calls serve to maintain those crucial connections for our patients? Emily was willing to try. “If I’m being honest, this was going to challenge me. I like to be in the presence of the other person in order to connect. But the phone calls have been better than I would have imagined.”
Emily, and the other Family Care Givers, understood that with in-person visits it was the physical presence itself that was the most important part. But with the phone calls, they came to realize that mindful verbal communication skills – tone, inflection, annunciation, as well as purposeful silence – became the most crucial component to fostering and nurturing a remote connection with patients that would be meaningful.
Emily learned that the importance isn’t in the method of how one connects, but just that the connection is made. “It has taught me the value in regular communication. It has taught me the importance of someone calling each week to show that someone is thinking of them, that we care, and that they are not alone. It has taught me that during this pandemic – while an in-person connection is lost – a connection can be created through the phone. During the pandemic, I think it is even more important to give people this incredible gift. We, as humans, crave connection and social moments.”
It is crucial for Hospice to be able to provide the entire spectrum of care for patients and their families and Family Care Givers are such an important part of that experience. We always look for volunteers willing to help create these crucial connections and demonstrations of care. While it can be thought of as a more intimate way of contributing, Emily sees the reward in creating such open connections, however brief. “I am forever grateful for this opportunity and I hope that more volunteers and families get to experience something as beautiful as this.”
If you would like to learn more about volunteering as a Family Care Giver, call us at 315-634-1100.
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