As you get experience with this home care plan, you will become more skilled and comfortable arranging for companionship, and, as that happens, you will want to contact more and more of the people on your list. Telephone calls are often easier to arrange than inviting someone to the home. If there are people to whom the person with the illness enjoys talking on the phone, be sure to include them on this list. You can encourage these people to call or you can make calls to them. Helpers are often volunteers in community or church organizations, or they may be friends or neighbors who have worked as nurses, teachers or counselors, or in social service agencies.
Pets are another kind of companion that have been helpful and supportive for many sick people.
If the person with the illness does not have a pet, he or she may want to consider getting one. We recommend that you make a list of companions and how to make visiting enjoyable for them. Make this list now and add to it throughout the illness. Then it will be ready to use whenever you need it. Thinking about the visit from the point of view of the other person will help you to make the visit more pleasant.