Got volunteers? Association of hospice use of volunteers with bereaved family members' overall rating of the quality of end-of-life care.

Context: Volunteers are a key component of hospice, and they are required by Medicare conditions of participation in the United States. Yet, little is known about the impact of volunteers in hospice.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to characterize whether bereaved family members in hospice programs with increased use of volunteer hours per patient day report higher overall satisfaction with hospice services.