Yesterday afternoon I spent in the first of several sessions required of prospective volunteers to the Kansas Long-Term Care Ombsudsman department.
In 1971, President Nixon directed the establishment of The Office of Nursing Home Affairs by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and announced an eight-point initiative to improve the quality of care in America's nursing homes. In 1975, one-year grants of $18,000-$57,900 were made to most state agencies on aging (Nebraska and Oklahoma were not, yet, included) and those agencies hired nursing home ombudsman developmental specialists. The early nationwide program stressed use of volunteer ombudsman. The ombudsman program was strengthened in 1978 by an act that required every state to have a program and to specifically define the ombudsman functions and responsibilities. By 1981, the reauthorization of the earlier Older Americans Act expanded the program and the name was changed to Long-Term Care Ombudsman (from "Nursing Home...").
The budget for the State of Kansas LTC Ombudsman program is pretty low, and is funded (for the most part) 1/3 by the state and 2/3 by the federal government. If I successfully complete the training (an 8-weeks course of training, four hours per week), and if I successfully pass the Kansas Bureau of Investigation screening, and if the state office and I agree that it would be a good thing to do, the state department for LTC will assign me to a long-term care facility. First, a paid ombudsman will introduce me to the director of the facility, then it will be up to me to provide advocacy for the residents in that facility. Term of commitment is one year, no fewer than four hours per week. The training requirement means that I shall be spending time on homework for the next several weeks.
If this - the long-term care position - works out for everyone, I will be pleased. If I were in a nursing home, I would certainly want you as my advocate.
Posted by: Ronni Bennett | March 09, 2005 at 05:11 PM
Good luck to you. I hope it works out for you because it will be a good thing for all concerned.
What a wonderful undertaking!
Millie
Posted by: Millie Garfield | March 10, 2005 at 10:09 PM
I'm so impressed with how you choose to use your time! You'll make a great ombudsman. I'm sure the quality of life in the facilty will improve with you on the job. There will be a lot of people blessed to know you. *S*
Posted by: Buffy | March 12, 2005 at 09:26 PM
Ronni, Millie, & Buffy--What kinds words you write. Thank you for the votes of confidence.
I asked the Volunteer Coordinator (Kansas), how they got the names for their mailing list. She thought that they probably had received my name from AARP. She said that, some time ago, the AARP sent out a card to each member, to be returned if one was interested in the program. I probably received the card and returned it. Who knows?!
Posted by: Cop Car | March 13, 2005 at 08:29 AM