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Thursday, January 16, 2003

By Patricia Sheridan, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The phone rang just as Jean Robinson was about to leave for a social event. On the line was the very upset husband of her home-care patient. She had fallen out of bed and he couldn't get her back in alone. "She seems so weak. Can you help me?" he pleaded.

	Volunteer Jean Robinson has cared for terminally ill patients through Forbes Hospice for 23 years. "The hospice puts this end-of-life process into a more emotionally sensitive realm," she said. (Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette)

"I don't remember specifically what I said to Brooks [Jean's husband], but I might have said, 'Go on ahead without me and I'll meet you there,' " she recalled.

There was no time to change, so, dressed for a formal affair, she went directly to the home. She calmed the distraught husband while she got her patient tucked back into bed and settled for the night.

"It was the priority that evening," she said as a matter of fact.

That was a few years ago, but after 23 years of caring for the dying through Forbes Hospice, there have been numerous vignettes to illustrate why Robinson of Squirrel Hill is one of seven Community Champions being honored with a Jefferson Award, considered the Nobel Prize of volunteerism. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, AT&T Broadband and Eat'n Park, with help from the United Way, sponsor Community Champions, a program of the national Jefferson Awards.

The public and workers in the nonprofit community nominated the 47 people who became Community Champions, featured in public service ads last year in the Post-Gazette and on AT&T cable stations.

From that number, judges chose the Jefferson Award recipients. Each will receive a medallion and $1,000 for the nonprofit organization of his or her choice. At 7 p.m. Jan. 23, they will be recognized at an awards ceremony at Carnegie Music Hall, Oakland.

Of course, Robinson, who is flattered by this recognition, is quick to point out that any of the volunteers would have done what she did that night many years ago. "We all do this, and it should be a shared honor," she said.

What they do at Forbes Hospice is bring dignity to the last stage of life for terminally ill patients and their families.

Terminal care is defined as six months or less to live. At that point most people choose to be at home, which is where the majority of the care Forbes Hospice provides takes place.

"Hospice isn't building-centered," said Shelby Anderson, director of volunteer services. "Most of our patients are in their homes, but we have eight beds in a dedicated patient facility."

That is where Robinson, the mother of three and grandmother of 13, now does her volunteering.

"Nothing interferes with my volunteer work there," stated Robinson emphatically. She is there every Thursday morning at 7. Anderson said most volunteers don't arrive until 9.

"One of the special things about Jean is her selflessness," Anderson said. Robinson has been volunteering there since the doors opened in 1979.

"She is so respectful when doing her tasks," Anderson said. She bathes the patients, changes their nightgowns and linens and prepares them for the day. "She does it all in a very spiritual way. The look on her face tells you she's on a beautiful mission."

Few respond to this volunteer experience with the joy of Robinson. Though many think that dealing with imminent death would be difficult to handle, she understands that a lot of good can happen before the end comes.

She sees it as an opportunity to offer reassurance and reaffirmation, even if it just means holding someone's hand, relieving the primary caregiver for a few hours or extending a caring presence to the bereaved family. Her attitude comes from an upbringing that stressed a strong work ethic and high expectations for community service. She also was influenced by the "Servant" series of books written by Robert Greenleaf.

"There was the 'Institution of Servant,' 'Trustee as Servant' and 'The Servant-Leader,' and to me that servanthood is kind of a spiritual vocation," Robinson said.

A privileged life as wife of a successful businessman has allowed her to see and address the needs of the Pittsburgh community from different vantage points. Robinson has served on a number of boards, including the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Children's Hospital and the Buhl Foundation. But it was the loss of two family members to cancer 25 years ago that brought her to Forbes.

"It seemed to me they and their families were neglected by the system," she remembered. She began to read about the hospice movement, which was just coming to this country. "It rang true for me," she said. "This is the way people should experience the dying process, I thought, and I wanted to be a part of it."

Forbes was the first hospice in Pittsburgh. Today there are four, and Robinson would like to see some kind of collaboration to increase the availability and marketability of the hospice environment.

"The hospice puts this end-of-life process into a more emotionally sensitive realm," explained Robinson. While the physicians focus on healing, at the hospice comfort and dignity are the goals.

Easing the passage from life to death for patients involves a certain gentleness, as well as diplomacy when dealing with family members.

"I've learned a lot about family dynamics," Robinson said. "You have the son, who has come in from California and has had nothing to do with the long months of caring for the family member and is in total disagreement with the decisions the siblings have made," she said. This is where the social workers on the staff come in.

"It's really a great team approach," Robinson said proudly.

There is no general way people come to the end of life. Individuals face it differently. Some are scared, some are resigned and some are peaceful.

"However they are feeling, though, she is there for them and, equally importantly, for the family," Anderson said. "Intimate" and "spiritual" are words Robinson uses often when describing what she does at Forbes.

"You can imagine what it's like to be with people whose dear family member is dying. To be allowed into the intimacy of that moment is very special," she said.

She admitted to becoming attached to the people she cares for and feels the loss, but she sees the rewards as so much greater.

"The best way of saying how I feel is that I'm just lucky to be a part of the Forbes Hospice team," Robinson said.

"She's an angel," Anderson said. "She's their angel."

PNC Foundation is donating $1,000 to Forbes Hospice in Robinson's name.