My last job before retirement was very stressful and often required 10 hour days. I left at 64 following a heart attack in my office, possibly having something to do with those frequent long days. One of my big concerns was what I would do to keep busy and challenged without my job.
I knew that our senior center ran a volunteer recruitment program matching volunteers with a large selection of jobs in the community. It was difficult to think I was really old enough to go to a senior center. I got up my courage, made an appointment and met with the program director Cindy. She went over my resume and showed me positions that she felt would work with my skills and experience.
My own mother had been in a skilled nursing facility in Richmond when I lived in California. So many times I had wished for a person to talk with who was not connected to the facility. When Cindy got to the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, I knew I had found what I wanted.
This Program was authorized under the Older Americans Act in 1965 and in my state under the Older Californians Act. Becoming an Ombudsman required completion of a 5-day training program and 15 hours of facility visits with experienced Ombudsman mentors. The main responsibility of the program and its Ombudsmen is to investigate and resolve complaints involving residents of assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. These complaints and issues involve quality of care in the facility, financial abuse, and physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. Residents or family members can file complaints directly with their local Ombudsman office or by calling the Statewide Crisis hotline at 800 231-4024.
Ombudsman services are free and confidential. Care facilities are required to post contact information on the program in conspicuous locations. Volunteers are an integral part of this community-based program and spend countless hours visiting their facilities and advocating for their residents. In California as many as 60 percent of the residents have no visitors so the Ombudsman may be the only person other than facility staff that the resident sees.
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of having an advocate in care facilities of all types. If residents have issues with the facility, facility staff or even family, they are often hesitant to mention it for fear of retaliation or loss of a relationship. The Ombudsman can be the only one they feel free to talk with. Building a relationship of trust with our residents goes a long way toward letting them know there is someone to turn to. We do not share any information from the residents unless they have given us written permission to do so.
The Long Term Care Ombudsman Program is the only federally mandated program to advocate for the needs of residents in long term care facilities. Funding for this vital program comes from multiple sources at the federal, state and local levels. For anyone currently living in an assisted living or skilled nursing facility or for their relatives and friends, contact information about this program can make a profound difference in the quality of daily life for the resident. Information about the national program can be can found at ltcombudsman.org or 202 332-2275.