Taking care of a dying patient is a team effort. Nurses take care of pain control and help manage symptoms. Home health aides assist with the personal care of the patient and provide light housekeeping. Chaplains and social workers also assist with encouraging spiritual and emotional health.

And hospice volunteers provide companionship, practical help and family relief. Sometimes volunteers run errands, read books to patients and stay with them while their caregiver is away.

"I go into their home, meet the patient and family and just become whatever they need me to be," says Wanda Waddle, 76, a volunteer for Hospice of Oklahoma County. Waddle was recently named volunteer of the year for the Oklahoma Hospice Association.

"Hospice volunteers meet the non-medical needs of the patient by providing valuable quality time and services," says Catie Knight, volunteer coordinator for Hospice of Oklahoma County. "Most importantly, volunteers serve as friends to patients and their families during the final stages of life."

Three years ago, Waddle's 97-year-old mother had hospice care at the end of her life.

"It gave me a great sense of security knowing that she was having extra care. Hospice nurses were checking on her in the nursing home," she says.

So, after the death of her mother, uncle and aunt, Waddle knew she wanted to devote her time to hospice. Her first patient was a 44-year-old woman with lung cancer and a two-year-old son.

"I just kind of became a grandparent to that little kid," she recalls.

The family moved to a mobile home, which had only a stoop at the front door. Waddle and the patient's husband built a porch on the front of it so the boy could play and the mother could sit outside in her wheelchair.

When caring for other patients, Waddle may read or sit with the patient while the caregiver takes the afternoon off.

"I just try to meet the needs as I can see them," she says. "I firmly believe that God walks us through experiences, and He uses those experiences so we can help others along the way."