Empowering the eyes and ears of hospice: The Aide Specialist program.

Home aides are the critical link between the goals of hospice and their implementation. They spend greater periods of time in the home than other hospice team members, and often enjoy a privileged relationship of trust and openness with the patient and family. In order to optimize the contribution hospice aides can make. The Hospice of Central New York developed a program designed to improve hospice care quality by enhancing the skills, sensitivity, and self-esteem of the home health aides who most regularly provide this care. This article describes the components of a successful hospice aide training and support program, discusses the techniques used and the evaluation measures employed, and summarizes the benefits, limitations and challenges of initiating and maintaining a program of this kind.