• Listen to complaints concerning the quality of services and resident satisfaction.
• Research and clarify questions raised by resident, customers, facilities and the community.
• Resolve conflicts or misunderstandings between individuals and service providers.
• Help people work together to assure satisfactory service.
• Help consumer with the complaint, grievance or fair hearing process.
• Recommend changes to the consumers or providers on how to avoid future problems.
• Provide information about community resources, consumer rights and opportunities for involvement in local decision-making processes to consumers.
• Direct callers to local, regional, and state mental health advocacy organizations, support groups, and qualified providers.

• Residents of nursing homes, boarding homes, adult family homes, and assisted living facilities.
• Family members and friends of residents in long-term care facilities.
• Administrators and employers of nursing homes and the above listed residential facilities
• The community at large.

Know your rights as Long-Term Care Resident

A facility should care for its residents in a manner and in an environment that promotes maintenance or enhancement of each resident's quality of life. A resident should have a safe, clean, comfortable, and homelike environment. Among those resident's rights in the long-term care facilities are:

• To be informed of your rights, the rules and policies of the facility, and to be told of all services available and their cost, including those charges covered or not included in the basic rate.
• To be informed of your health condition, to participate in planning your own care and treatment including the refusal of any treatment, and to have our personal and medical records treated confidentially.
• To be transferred or discharged only after written notice is given and only for increased medical needs, safety or non-payment.
• To be encouraged to exercise your rights as a resident and citizen, to complain and suggest without fear of coercion or retaliation.
• To manage your financial affairs, or if this delegated, to receive regular accounting.
• To be free of mental and physical abuse and of chemical and physical restraints.
• To participate in social, religious and community activities, as possible.
• To have your own clothing and possessions and be allowed to use them as space permits.
• To have privacy for visits and telephone calls, and to send and receive personal mail unopened.

Become a Long Term Care Volunteer

Can you speak up for others who may no longer be able to speak for themselves?

Long Term Care Volunteers are compassionate listeners, avocates, and problem solvers.

What doe it take?

• Complete a free, in-depth, 32-hour certification training (call for training dates)
• Pass mandatory background checks
• Attend monthly in-service meetings and trainings
• Submit monthly activity reports
• Provide your own transportation (mileage reimbursement is available)
• Donate an average of four hours a week of your time

If you are interested in joining a team of caring volunteers, please complete the application form below.

Note:

• Volunteers cannot have worked for a long-term care facility for at least one year prior to becoming an Ombudsman volunteer and cannot have a member of their family living with them who is currently working in a long-term care facility.