By Barbara Allen
Facing a future of unstructured days can be something that retirees regard with both delight and dismay. While it may be a relief to step out of the “rat race,” and leave behind tightly scheduled work weeks, many people still appreciate having a sense of purpose to their new non-work life and days.
Volunteering can provide just that, as well as an opportunity to meet new people and learn new skills.
“Just because someone was an accountant in their work life doesn’t mean that’s what they want to do as a volunteer,” Mary Ann Stein, director of volunteer services and community outreach at Marlborough Hospital, pointed out. Volunteering is the chance to try something completely different.
Ed Roth, Regional SHINE Program Director, Central Regional SHINE Consortium, Central Massachusetts Area Council on Aging, said that the program’s volunteer base of SHINE counselors, mostly retirees and seniors, is drawn from varying professional backgrounds, such as banking, healthcare and office management, and includes individuals who, according to Roth, are “looking to do something with their life other than sitting around.” SHINE (Serving the Health Insurance Needs of Everyone) provides free health insurance counseling and information to Massachusetts residents receiving Medicare, Medicaid, and their caregivers; SHINE counselors help them understand their benefits as well as other insurance options which might be available.
“We are the front line people providing this information,” said Roth, adding that many of those who turn to SHINE for help often have no real knowledge of Medicare.
“They don’t know how to proceed or what their options are,” he said. SHINE counselors offer what Roth refers to as “Medicare 101,” explaining how Medicare works and giving them some guidance as to what is available in the way of supplementary insurance plans. Often individuals who have been helped through the program later go on to become SHINE counselors.
The training program to become a state certified SHINE counselor is rigorous: two days per week, six hours per day, for six weeks. More experienced counselors mentor the newly-certified volunteers, who are then “stationed” at a senior center or Council on Aging near their home, where they set up appointments to meet with those who have health insurance questions or problems.
The program is actively seeking counselors for the western part of Worcester county.
“Gardner, Winchendon, Warren, the Brookfields,” recited Roth, naming only a few of the towns where he would like to see SHINE coverage. “We like to see a time commitment of one four-hour day per week. It’s one of the more rewarding opportunities available. Counselors can see they are helping people.”
The desire to help others is a driving force for many retirees who chose to volunteer. Hospitals and health care facilities offer hands-on opportunities, such as working in the gift shop, manning the front desk or providing patient transport within the hospital. The recently established Emergency Department Concierge Program at Marlborough Hospital offers another unique experience in caring for others.
The “concierge,” that hotel employee whose function is to see to the comfort and well-being of the guests, explained Mary Ann Stein, was the model for this volunteer position, which was originally created to improve the ED waiting room experience.
“Wait times in the ED are difficult,” acknowledged Stein. “Why not have a volunteer there to help the families understand the process?”
The ED Concierge Volunteer, while maintaining patient confidentiality, offers encouragement and support, even a warm blanket; he or she is someone to whom patients can talk about their fears and concerns, and help reduce their anxiety as they wait to be seen.
According to Noah Beit-Aharon, assistant activities director at Maristhill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Waltham, retirees make up about 33 percent of the volunteer work force at the facility. As in the hospital setting, they may help with transporting residents throughout the building, or provide one- on-one visits. Beit-Aharon feels it is a mutually beneficial situation not only for the resident but also for the retiree who is dedicating his or her time.
For the residents, he said, it gives them time to spend with someone who is more of their “peer,” who can understand what they are going through and who can relate to their troubles.
Volunteers in the meantime can learn more about the eldercare system, “which most people will have interaction with at some point in their lives,” explained Beit-Aharon, “whether through their own health issues or those of a family member or loved one.”
“[Volunteering] at eldercare facilities,” he added, “also helps dispel the cultural fear of nursing homes, which is [still] sadly pervasive.”
One doesn’t have to be a retiree to volunteer as a Threshold Singer, but the flexibility of a retiree’s schedule makes it a compatible volunteer option for someone who wants to lend their voice to a rewarding service opportunity.
The Threshold Singers, based out of Indian Hill Music in Littleton, bring their voices to the bedsides of those who are sick, in a coma, or dying. The group is not hospice-trained, and sings only at the invitation of patient, caregiver or family. Their visit is not a performance: upon request, three to four members arrive at the patient’s bedside and softly sing songs of healing and comfort to the patient, as well as to caregivers or family members who might also be there.
“Being a caregiver can be emotionally exhausting,” said Suzanne Buell, administrative coordinator for the Threshold Singers. “The patient, caregiver, hospice staff and family all need comfort and healing.”
The Threshold Singers have a core group of approximately 25 people, and a membership of 35, from which to draw for bedside requests. However, the singers go when they are summoned, and that urgent spontaneity sometimes makes it more difficult for volunteers with jobs or young children, but perhaps less challenging for individuals who are no longer working.
Buell reflects that the scope of life experience of retirees is also valuable as a bedside singer.
“They understand why people might want and appreciate healing at that time of life,” she says.
The Threshold Singers practice twice a month in Littleton, at Indian Hill Music. Buell invites those who might be interested to come and sit in on a rehearsal, to see if it would be a good fit for them.
The group is always looking for new singers.
“You are moved to do this work when you know the time is right,” said Buell, “and those are the people we are looking for.”
