To become a hospice volunteer, you generally need to be at least 18, pass a criminal background check, complete an orientation and training program before you see any patients, and commit to showing up on a regular schedule for at least a year. Those are the hospice volunteer requirements in broad strokes. The details, and how long the whole process takes, depend on the organization and your state, but the framework comes from federal Medicare rules that apply to every certified hospice in the country. From first inquiry to active volunteer, plan on several weeks.
Who Can Volunteer
Most hospices set the minimum age at 18. Some require 21, especially for roles that involve visiting patients in their homes. High school students are sometimes accepted for indirect support work like assembling care packages or helping with office tasks, but direct patient contact is almost always reserved for adults. There is no federal minimum age; each organization decides.
You do not need a medical background or any clinical training. What hospices look for is reliability, emotional steadiness, and a willingness to keep showing up for patients who will come to depend on you.
Background Check and Disqualifying Convictions
Every hospice must run a criminal background check on anyone who will have direct patient contact or access to patient records. If your state has its own rules, the hospice follows those. If not, the check has to be completed within three months of your start date and cover every state you have lived or worked in during the past three years.1eCFR. 42 CFR 418.114 – Condition of Participation: Personnel Qualifications Most hospices pay for the check. Fees generally run from about $12 to $40.
Some convictions will disqualify you outright. Hospices screen against the federal Office of Inspector General’s list of excluded individuals. Mandatory exclusions cover Medicare or Medicaid fraud and other offenses tied to federal or state healthcare programs; any conviction connected to abuse or neglect of a patient in a healthcare setting; felony fraud, theft, embezzlement, or breach of fiduciary duty committed in connection with healthcare delivery; and felony convictions for unlawful manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing controlled substances by someone in the healthcare industry. The OIG can also exclude people convicted of misdemeanor versions of healthcare fraud or controlled substance offenses.2Office of Inspector General | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Referrals for Exclusion Based on Convictions
“Convicted” is defined broadly. It includes guilty pleas, findings of guilt, nolo contendere pleas, and deferred adjudication, even if the record has been expunged.
Health Screenings
Federal hospice regulations do not specifically require physical exams, tuberculosis testing, or vaccination records for volunteers. Whether you need any of that depends on your state’s licensure rules and the hospice’s own policies. Many programs do require TB testing and immunization records as internal policy, particularly for people who will spend time in patient homes or inpatient units, because hospice patients are medically fragile and highly susceptible to infection. The coordinator will tell you during the application process exactly what health documentation they need.
Applying and Interviewing
Start by contacting the volunteer coordinator at a local hospice. Most organizations have an application form on their website; some still handle intake in person or by phone. The application asks for contact information, availability, any relevant experience, and usually a short explanation of why you want to volunteer.
You will need to give two or three references, generally not family members. The hospice contacts them directly. This step carries more weight than it might look like, because the coordinator is trying to gauge whether you will follow through on commitments and handle sensitive situations with discretion.
Once your application clears, you’ll be scheduled for an interview. It’s less about qualifications and more about emotional readiness. Expect questions about why you want to do this work, any personal experience you’ve had with death or caregiving, what times you’re available, and how you handle grief and stress. Coordinators look for self-awareness. People who have a realistic sense of what the work involves, and who can describe how they’ll take care of themselves through it, tend to do well.
One piece of paperwork you will not fill out: Form I-9. That form is required only for paid employees, not unpaid volunteers.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 2.0 Who Must Complete Form I-9 You will still need identification for the background check.
Training You Must Complete Before You Start
After you’re provisionally accepted, you must complete orientation and training before doing any volunteer work. Federal regulations require training “consistent with hospice industry standards” but don’t set a specific number of hours.4eCFR. 42 CFR 418.78 – Conditions of Participation: Volunteers The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization recommends at least 16 hours, and many programs run longer. Your state’s licensure rules may set their own minimum.
Most of the content isn’t clinical. Core topics include the philosophy of hospice care, what the dying process looks like, how to communicate with patients and grieving families, and how to set boundaries so you can sustain the work. Practical skills come in too: safely assisting someone with limited mobility, what to do in an emergency, and when to call clinical staff instead of trying to handle something yourself.
HIPAA and Confidentiality
A significant portion of training covers the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, “workforce” explicitly includes volunteers, not just paid employees.5eCFR. 45 CFR 160.103 – Definitions Everything you learn about a patient, from their diagnosis to what their living room looks like, is protected health information. Hospices are strictest with volunteers here, because a well-meaning comment to a neighbor can amount to a federal privacy violation.
Infection Control
Even without any clinical role, you need to understand basic infection control. Training covers universal precautions, hand hygiene, when to use gloves or other protective equipment, and how to handle contaminated materials.6Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Worker Protections Against Occupational Exposure to Infectious Diseases For home visits, you’ll also learn what to do if you come across a needle, a spill, or a patient showing signs of a communicable illness.
Continuing Education
Training doesn’t end after orientation. Most hospices require annual continuing education. Some accrediting bodies set specific minimums: eight hours per year for volunteers in non-direct roles and twelve hours for those providing direct patient care. Sessions often cover regulatory updates, confidentiality refreshers, and topics like recognizing signs of patient decline.
What You’ll Do and How Much Time It Takes
Volunteer roles fall into two broad categories. Direct patient care includes sitting with a patient so a family caregiver can rest, reading aloud, playing music, running light errands, and simply providing companionship. Administrative support includes answering phones, data entry, assembling mailings, and organizing supply closets. Fundraising is welcome at most hospices but sits outside the federally recognized volunteer categories, so if you specifically want to help with galas or donor campaigns, say so up front.7eCFR. 42 CFR 418.78 – Volunteers
Hospices are required to use volunteers in an amount equal to at least five percent of the total patient care hours provided by paid staff and contractors. Practically, that means organizations genuinely need you and take recruitment seriously.
Most programs ask for at least two to four hours a week and a minimum commitment of one year. The year isn’t arbitrary. Patients form bonds with their volunteers, and continuity matters at the end of life. Coordinators will be direct with you about this in the interview. Scheduling is usually flexible; you and the coordinator work out visit times based on the patient’s needs and your availability.
Costs You’ll Cover and What’s Deductible
The work is unpaid, and some expenses come out of your pocket. The most common is mileage. Some hospices reimburse travel; many don’t. Unreimbursed expenses tied to your volunteer work are deductible as charitable contributions if the hospice is a qualified nonprofit.
You can deduct the actual cost of gas and oil used for volunteer driving, or use the standard charitable mileage rate of 14 cents per mile for 2026. Parking and tolls are deductible on top of either method.8Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Standard Mileage Rates Required uniforms not suitable for everyday wear, like a smock or vest, are deductible too. General car maintenance, insurance, and depreciation are not.
If your unreimbursed expenses reach $250 or more, you’ll need adequate records of the amounts plus a written acknowledgment from the hospice describing your services and confirming whether you received anything in return.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 526 – Charitable Contributions One thing you cannot deduct: childcare, even if paying a sitter is the only way you can free up time to volunteer.
Support for the Emotional Side
No training program fully prepares you for the grief. You will lose patients you’ve grown close to, sometimes within weeks of meeting them. That’s why coordinators spend so much of the interview on emotional readiness.
Most hospices offer ongoing support: group debriefing sessions where volunteers can talk openly, access to the hospice’s bereavement counselors, and periodic check-ins with the coordinator. Use these. The volunteers who last are not the ones who feel nothing when a patient dies. They are the ones who have somewhere to put the feeling.
Finding a Program
The most direct route is to call a hospice in your area and ask for the volunteer coordinator. Hospitals and healthcare systems with hospice programs list opportunities on their websites. The Hospice Foundation of America maintains resources for prospective volunteers at hospicefoundation.org. If you aren’t sure which hospices serve your area, your local hospital’s social work department or your county’s area agency on aging can point you in the right direction. Once you make contact, the coordinator will walk you through the application timeline and tell you exactly what documentation to gather before training starts.