A growing number of adult Americans are facing old age without any support. 

Cape Fear Valley Health now has a program to address the issue. The No One Dies Alone program allows volunteers to support patients who would otherwise die alone.

“Whether talking softly, playing relaxing music or simply holding vigil, our NODA volunteers act as a reassuring presence at the bedside of the dying patient when no friends or family are available to be with them during their final days of life,” said Rachel Thurnher, program coordinator and nurse educator with Cape Fear Valley Health, in the program announcement.

Cape Fear Valley Health is actively looking for volunteers for its NODA program. NODA volunteers should be compassionate individuals who can interact with patients of all faiths and backgrounds without judgment, Thurnher told CityView.

Volunteers also must:

  • Be at least 18 years old
  • Have transportation to and from Cape Fear Valley Medical Center
  • Be easily reachable by phone or email and available on short notice to aid patients
  • Be able to sit for two or more hours at a time with patients

No prior volunteer or medical experience is necessary. There is also no minimum time commitment. 

“I believe being a part of NODA benefits the volunteers as much as the patients and families that we serve,” Thurnher said. “Being able to provide comfort and reassurance to someone in their final moments of life is a transformative and sacred experience. It’s an honor each and every time that we provide someone with the sort of dignified death that they deserve.”

Each potential volunteer will be interviewed and receive a hospital orientation before working with patients. They will also go through a NODA program training, which includes training on “spiritual care, compassionate communication, stages of death and dying, volunteer expectations and NODA protocol,” Thurnher explained. 

Volunteers will take their NODA training in the health system’s Simulation Lab, part of the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center complex on Melrose Road. There, they can practice being a compassionate companion, or a volunteer that engages with patients one-on-one.

The idea to implement the program at Cape Fear Valley Health began in May 2024. Cape Fear Valley Health now joins between 1,000 and 1,500 hospitals and prisons across the globe that have NODA programs.

NODA started in 2001 at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington. It came about after a dying patient asked Sandra Clarke, a since-retired nurse, to stay with him. She agreed, but only after she finished her rounds. By the time she came back, the man had died.

“I was angry because I felt so helpless,” Clarke told The Washington Post Magazine in 2021. “All he wanted was companionship.”

The need for programs like NODA could increase as the number of adults without kin — partners, children, siblings and parents — grows. A study published in PNAS, the peer-reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences, estimates that 6.3 million American adults 50 years or older will be without a living partner, children, sibling or parents by 2060. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Committee on Population expects the number of “kinless” adults to surpass the number with diabetes or Alzheimer’s disease.

Those interested in becoming a NODA volunteer can apply online. The health system’s volunteer services webpage also lists other volunteering opportunities at Cape Fear Valley Health.

CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the CityView News Fund.