Who advocates for a resident in assisted living who wants to leave the facility for the afternoon to visit friends, or who cannot reach the elevator controls when seated in a wheelchair? One person who can help is a volunteer Long Term Care Ombudsman, trained and certified by New York state.
The Older Americans Act requires each state to establish an independent Office of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman, and New York administers its program through the State Office for the Aging. Suffolk County’s ombudsman program is housed at the Family Service League, and the Family and Children’s Association houses Nassau County’s
program.
Ombudsmen advocate for and empower disabled or elderly residents in skilled nursing and adult care facilities, as well as smaller “family type” homes. For example, they investigate and work to resolve resident complaints, promote resident and family councils within facilities, inform the public about resident rights and policy issues, and represent residents’ interests before governmental agencies or community organizations. They can help a resident fight an unwanted discharge, press a facility to improve responsiveness to call lights, or lobby officials to increase the personal care funds allocated to each long-term-care resident.
However, with approximately 1,400 long-term-care facilities state-wide and only 95 full- and part-time staff, the State Ombudsman must call upon certified volunteers to participate in this work. To be certified initially, both volunteers and paid staffers must complete a 36-hour training program, including time spent shadowing an experienced ombudsman. To remain certified, they must complete 18 continuing education hours each year. Volunteers spend 2-4 hours per week in a single facility, observing, interviewing residents, and attending resident council meetings.
New York needs more volunteer ombudsmen. In Suffolk County, there are 131 long term-care facilities and just 21 volunteer ombudsmen. In Nassau County, the situation is much the same: 104 facilities and just 13 volunteer ombudsmen.
AARP Long Island and Hofstra University are partnering on a pilot program to create a pipeline of students to address this need. During a recent information session, Bernard Macias (Associate State Director for AARP), Jennifer Carpentieri (Administrator of the Gurwin Healthcare System in Commack), and Claudette Royal (New York State Ombudsman) addressed 40 Hofstra University students, explaining the requirements, challenges, and satisfactions of serving as a volunteer ombudsman. “I truly believe this program will provide a rewarding experience for students who choose to participate while, even more importantly, providing vital support for the residents in facilities,” observed Royal.
Edward Flynn (Hofstra alumnus and President of the Resident Council at the Glengariff Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Glen Cove) described how he had worked with his facility’s volunteer ombudsman to improve residents’ access and quality of life there. Following that, Hofstra faculty explained how this community service could fit into academic programs such as exercise physiology, disability studies, sociology, and health science. In the proposed program, students will develop skills in advocacy, mediation, and problem solving, earn academic credit for their training and volunteer experience, and, crucially, promote the rights and quality of life of people all too often invisible to much of our society. Corinne Kyriacou, PhD, Vice Dean of Hofstra’s School of Health Sciences said, “Facilitating this ombudsman initiative is already so rewarding—my faculty colleagues across disciplines see the value, and many students showed up to the info session, indicating interest and asking great questions. I am hopeful that we can channel our students’ compassion and commitment to social justice to make a difference in the lives of Long Island’s long term care residents.”
For more information about the ombudsman program, as well as requirements and opportunities to volunteer, go to https://aging.ny.gov/long-term-care-ombudsman-program.