Abstract
In a group of 42 screened, trained, and experienced hospice volunteers, the 18 who left the program between 4 and 11 mo. after starting (mean age 35 yr., 17 women, 1 man) and the 24 who worked a year or more (mean age, 45 yr., 22 women, 2 men), differed significantly on their scores on the Crumbaugh and Maholick Purpose in Life test and the Templer Death Anxiety Scale. The persisters scored higher on purpose in life and lower on death anxiety. These results should prove useful in the delineation of the characteristics of the good hospice worker as well as supplying a basis for developing more definitive selection procedures for hospice volunteers. Hospice programs are suggested as a source of cross-sectional samples of adults for gathering more data about these scales.