Long-Term Healthcare Setting

Training People to Become Better Volunteer Leaders

By: Jeff Young

People like to volunteer. They feel they have something of value to offer. People like to volunteer in Long Term Healthcare (LTHC) nursing homes for any number of reasons; the basic reasons include: to feel better about themselves, to help others, or to learn something.

Someone may have or have had a loved one in a nursing home and understands the basics of residential life, some may not, and others still may want to volunteer as part of a class or group project. Whatever their reason, whatever their goal, getting them to be a part of the team is critical. The best and only way to make them feel they are part of the team is to provide them with free training.

There is a revolutionary new program that is changing the way LTHC performs community service, recruits volunteers, work with and trains their volunteers. This program is called H.A.R.P. (Home Assisted Recreation Program). H.A.R.P. is being herald as the first new significant direction of the Millennium Culture Change. H.A.R.P. is the LTHC nursing home is the solution for the nationwide trend of elderly senior citizens staying at home longer in their golden years before moving into their local nursing home.

This trend has several impacts on LTHC. They have an ever shrinking pool of viable marketing opportunities, which then has an impact on the overall census. On the other side, seniors who choose to stay home longer are coming into LTHC with a larger decline in their health, in their physical abilities to do activities. They need more health care than they did a decade ago.

To remedy this decline, H.A.R.P. was developed to bring activities to these stay at home seniors. It is proverbial, if Muhammad won't come to the mountain, then bring the mountain to Muhammad. Just because a senior decides to stay home longer doesn't mean they don't need structured activities to keep them motivated, alert, focused, and physically well-off. H.A.R.P. was designed to be run by volunteer workers and overseen by an LTHC Activity Director. The volunteer, equipped with a handful of pre-determined activities to do with the participant based on an assessment protocol, goes into the home for one to two hours, 2, 3, 4, 5 times a week based on the assessed needs of the participant.

This program allows for the participant to become familiar with at least some of the nursing home staff. It also reassures their family that someone is with them during these scheduled visits. Because it is an outreach program, participants can get home-based support to do the activities and complete the projects they desire at a pace that works for them.

Because H.A.R.P. was designed to be powered by a volunteer work force an extensive twenty-four clock hour training course was developed to give the volunteer tools and resources needed to implement the program and not just keep it going, but to make it thrive. The training course is broken down into six four-hour units that are critical for the H.A.R.P. volunteer but can easily be adapted to any LTHC volunteer training and orientation. To be a best fit program, it was designed to be taught 1-2 units weekly, but has the flexibility to meet everyone's needs.

Upon successful completion of the training course, the volunteer will have covered activity services, programming, the biology of aging, team building skills, environmental safety, and in-home activities. The training course comes with both student and instructor training materials and a Certificate of Completion. Please contact the author for more information about course materials.

Once the volunteer training is complete the outreach phase is ready to rollout. By using press releases and bulletin board notices strategically placed in churches, grocery stores, senior centers, doctor's offices and in the newspaper you begin recruiting your program participants. As each new participant joins, a comprehensive assessment needs to be done by a certified Activity Director and a program set up that meets the needs of that participant.

And then sit back and let the good times roll. As your volunteers meet with their clients and build a lasting relationship with them and when the time comes for needing permanent placement, we believe that the family and the client will pick you and your nursing home.

About the Author

Mr. Young is a nationally certified activity director working at his local nursing home. He is currently working towards improving his state's education requirements for becoming a certified activity director. He has completed his master's level advanced coursework for his ACC certification. He is an ordained minister and holds a MetD degree in metaphysics. He consults with other nursing homes about how to meet spiritual needs and improve their activity programing.

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