Hospice and Me

I'm starting 2012 with a new venture. I've decided to volunteer with the Hospice organization here in Central New York. Today I had an interview with the volunteer coordinator, I guess to see if I was qualified. I was a little nervous...what are the appropriate qualifications for a hospice volunteer?  would I be found acceptable?  I figured they would ask why I was interested in doing this and had given my answer some thought. It required thought, because I wasn't exactly sure myself.  Here are the elements that went into my decision:
1. I study gerontology and the health of older people. Although I do this in a very detached, abstract way, I've become increasingly interested in "real people." Maybe because I'm getting older myself?
2. I've been deeply influenced by the stories I hear from others in my Brookdale network--about their direct care experiences and how those experiences have influenced their lifes and research.
3. My weekly lunches with my retired colleague have shown me the value, for both of us, in having someone friendly with whom to have lunch, visit, and talk.
4. I think every person has a right to be cared for and cared about. I think we owe each other that attention.
5. I feel like I am someone who is good in difficult situations, in crises. I think I have a cool head and can be a stabilizing influence in some situations.

Another reason, that I didn't mention in the interview, is that I feel I am increasingly interested in having connections with people, having meaningful relationships.  I doubt that any individual hospice experience will provide that, but over time I think the cumulation of experiences will be valuable.  I think it is part of my new spiritual sense of the connectedness of people.

I guess I passed the interview, though, because the coordinator told me that going through their regular 8 weeks of volunteer training would be a waste of my time. Instead, she and I will meet a few times and go over some of the basics and then they will turn me loose.

Some things I learned about hospice today.  Hospice is required to have volunteers. When the legislation authorizing Medicare coverage for hospice care was passed it included a provision that Hospice organizations must include volunteers. There is a certain percentage of their hours of care that must be provided by volunteers.  The other thing, that I sort of knew, but was interested to hear was that 35% of the patients admitted to hospice are in hospice care for less than a week.

So, look for regular updates...

Objectivity

In the last week I've come across different references to the idea of "objectivity" in social science research. Not that I haven't thought about it before, but now I'm thinking about it again.....First, I was listening to a researcher talk about segregation in a midwestern city.  Her research started with a photograph taken in the 1970s of young teens on a porch. The group of about 15 consisted of black boys and white girls. The researcher was one of those in the photograph and her goal was to tell the story of racial divides by tracing the life trajectories of those youths.  It was an interesting approach and story.  Inevitably the question was asked about her "objectivity" in the research, since she was part of the group.  In the following discussion the term "strong objectivity" was used.  This idea, advanced by Sandra Harding, argues that true objectivity (or neutrality) does not exist.  Instead, recognizing our own role in the research actually strengthens, rather than weakens, concepts of objectivity.  By overtly recognizing our own biases in the research process can we come closer to "reality."  Bringing biases and background to the front of the research process maximizes objectivity.

With my mind primed for thinking about "objectivity" I listened to another scholar discuss experiences of the new South migration of blacks in the US.  She focused, for this talk, on their perceptions of racism in the North and South. Here the term "objective reality" came up in questions. How did her subjects perceptions compare to reality?  One of her answers, which I liked, was that "reality" was sometimes less important than perceptions in shaping behavior (actually it is probably more often important....)  So, objective reality exists whether you believe or not...does that imply some underlying "true" facts?  Of course, the cultural relativists would say no, that reality is different depending on your standpoint (Harding is a standpoint theorist).  Can we reconcile these ideas?