CuppaJoe
Moderator Emeritus
One things folks could do, especially after ER when there is presumably more time, is be a hospice patient volunteer. Most programs encourage volunteers, after some training, to visit the patients, whether at home or in a facility, to spend some time with them and hopefully brighten their day or just have somebody there. As the medical folks may be able to confirm, too often families do not visit much for a variety of reasons.
I have never been a volunteer, but it is one of the things I have thought about doing after ER, assuming I have the stomach for it. I learned about the volunteer program when we had a relative in hospice.
I’m surprised and happy that over the course of a checkerboard career, I’ve been able to do some varied (paid and unpaid) charity work during business hours, including work on the initial stages of setting up The George Mark Children’s House which is a place for terminally ill children and their families to go to relax away from the hospital setting as well as serving as a hospice. (For some reason I couldn’t get the link to work but if you are interested, it is easily googled.)