Bringing Joy to Hospice Patients During the Holidays

Kenny, a 70-something VNS Health Hospice patient with developmental disabilities who had end-stage cancer, had a special holiday request: he asked if maybe Santa could visit him at home. This got Leslie Marseglia, who was Kenny’s VNS Health Social Worker, to thinking…

“I thought, ‘This might actually be something we can make happen,’” says Leslie. Her empowering moment: To provide Santa visits to Kenny as well as three pediatric patients who are also on hospice.

“Our goal in hospice is to make the end of life as fulfilling, comfortable and positive as possible,” says Leslie. “There are many things our patients would like to do that we cannot feasibly make happen. But these Santa visits were an opportunity to make something joyful happen.”

Leslie’s theater friends connected her with a charity rental on a Santa suit through a nonprofit theater costume shop. And three fellow hospice team members stepped in to play Santa: Spiritual Care Counselors Greg Smith and Dwayne McClary, and Spiritual Care Preceptor John Asirvatham. Leslie accompanied Greg and John on their patient visits, while Social Worker Alisha Freeman accompanied Dwayne on his.

The Spiritual Care team members, Leslie noted, were essentially using their core competencies and values in this new holiday role. “I discussed with Greg employing all the compassion, listening and empathy he normally provides, while also playing Santa,” Leslie says. For instance, when Kenny asked about why he had this disease and how long he might live, Greg listened and held space for the conversation, as spiritual care counselors are trained to do, rather than rushing in to try to fix or sugar coat the situation, the way someone in the role of Santa might.

While Greg held Kenny’s hand during a visit, Kenny was moved to tears and said how happy he was—something his caregiver later told the team Kenny hadn’t said in a long time. Kenny thanked Greg-as-Santa for visiting and added, “God bless you, and God bless me.”

When John Asirvatham, as Santa, visited a pediatric patient, there was joy and excitement as the siblings, who were also present, prepared for the Santa photo and playfully made fun of each other’s hairstyles.

“This was one small opportunity for a little quote-unquote normalcy in the home,” says Leslie. “It doesn’t lessen the grief and loss, but it expands the container to make room for other things, as well. I always talk to patients about honoring the loss of things they can no longer do, but then I say that maybe there are still things they can do that bring them peace, joy and hope. We just have to shift our thinking.”

John-as-Santa also paid a visit to a six-year-old and his overwhelmed mother and grandmother. “The mother was so happy to take a family photo with Santa,” Leslie reflects. “It felt like a pause in the day-to-day caregiving, the medications and therapies. It gave her the opportunity to take a breath.”

For Leslie, the simple solution of having a Santa visit hospice patients brought her what she calls “a little boost of energy.” She added, “It shows that you can make special moments happen, despite the challenges.”

The experience also brought her an even greater appreciation for her committed, talented fellow team members. “I have a special place in my heart for John, Greg, and Dwayne as people who are up for anything and willing to try something unusual,” Leslie says. “Every time I see them now, I’ll have this memory of them as Santa.”

* The patient’s name has been changed for privacy.