At local hospice homes, a passionate group of volunteers task themselves with writing memoirs that celebrate the richness of patients’ experiences. This heartfelt service they provide not only preserves legacies but highlights the timeless beauty of storytelling.
UT Last Writers volunteer to converse with hospice patients and capture their life stories. With the Austin chapter recently established, the volunteers begin to put together their first memoirs this year. Gia Nguyen, advertising and human dimensions of organizations sophomore, said the project ends with a physical book the volunteers present to the patient’s family.
“The students get paired with patients and you spend the entire semester interviewing them and learning more about them,” Nguyen said. “At the end, you create a memoir that you later gift to them with their family.”
Originally founded by UT-Dallas student Yilong Peng, Sonya Swami, psychology senior and club president, said she worked hard to start a chapter here at UT-Austin.
“This is such a neat concept and again, I can’t take credit for it,” Swami said. “I think a lot of times pre-health students have trouble finding meaningful experiences at this stage in their career, so having something like this (is) such a privilege.”
Although a heartwarming service, Alexia Schwartz, a health promotion freshman and club member, said she emphasizes the delicacy inherent when speaking with patients.
“You have to be very sensitive, knowing that they’re scared (and) that you don’t know how they’re feeling, so your choice of words need to be very careful,” Schwartz said. “I try to be like, ‘Hey, I don’t know how you’re feeling. I love you, I support you and I’m here to talk because I care about you.'”
Despite the challenges they encounter, Schwartz said patients often feel eager to converse with the volunteers.
“My patient told me that she was proud of me for doing this program, which was so sweet,” Schwartz said. “I think it’s stressful to be in the program because you’re afraid that you’re not going to live up to what they want, but I think at the end of the day, they’re just really happy that there’s someone out there that loves them enough to write a book about them.”
Nguyen said the organization doesn’t have enough hospice patients to pair with every volunteer who wants to join because of its recent founding. However, the officers are working to expand to accommodate more people.
“Hospice Austin was one of the hospitals that recently joined — we’re constantly trying to reach out to hospice homes,” Nguyen said. “I think it’s an amazing experience and I really want as many people to be part of Last Writers.”
Swami said she hopes to educate more people about the impact of caring for hospice patients.
“I think a term to use now is ‘narrative medicine’ and it really comes down to telling your stories (and) showing that people care at the end of life is so important,” Swami said. “Giving support to the family and the patient is very impactful.”
