Denise B. Scott, president of Drive Consulting, posted an intriguing story on LinkedIn the other day about a Scottish supermarket that partners with Alzheimer Scotland to help those with memory loss.
The workers are trained to understand how to help people with dementia, and the supermarket offers a “relaxed checkout lane” for seniors and others who might need a little extra time when paying for goods at the register.
On senior citizen discount day, the store posts a sign at the entry to the cashier’s line designating it as the “relaxed checkout lane,” allowing customers in a rush to go elsewhere. Those on the relaxed lane can check out slowly, without the pressure of worrying that someone behind them will get irritated.
The concept is so simple, easy and kind that I decided to ask my local supermarket if they’d join in.
A few months ago, I was consulting at the Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Jamaica, NY, when a remarkable woman named Trudy Schwarz walked down the hall. Her noteworthy qualities were obvious in several ways.
A diminutive woman, she nevertheless was pushing a sizable rolling metal cart filled with all manner of neatly arranged goods. This was despite being as old or older than many of the residents at the facility.
She exuded a calm, pleasant demeanor enhanced by her smile and her peach-colored lab coat as she purveyed merchandise from what I’ve previously termed an “independence cart,” an essential yet rare enterprise in long-term care.
“Trudy’s here!” exclaimed the resident I’d been speaking with, excusing herself for a moment to exchange a few dollars for a bottle of lotion. “She buys me the things I can’t get here. She’s a real lifesaver.”
It was a sentiment I heard echoed by many other residents over the next few months.
Overcoming systems failure
An “independence cart” is a small store on wheels that brings goods to residents. While many residents have personal needs allowances and therefore a small amount of money for purchases, it’s virtually impossible for many frail elderly to spend it due to a systems failure within long-term care communities.
Residents generally have no access to a store unless it’s one that visits their facility or they’re physically able to go off-campus with a family member or as part of a staffed excursion. Social workers are usually too inundated with other tasks to assist with online purchases and most residents don’t have access to a credit card, debit card or PayPal account necessary for web-based transactions anyway. Residents without family members to make purchases on their behalf are left to ask for help from staff members who sometimes assist them out of kindness — but against facility policy.
Posted by Dr. El - October 11, 2011 - Volunteering
Synchronicity: A reader commented on one of my recent blog posts, saying that nursing assistants need assistants of their own and noting the improvement volunteers can make in the quality of life in a nursing home. The next morning I read a post on my town message board asking about volunteer opportunities over the holidays, saying that the soup kitchens tend to have too many offers of service and turn people away. I responded by suggesting neighbors consider volunteering at the local nursing home, pointing out how much it’s appreciated by the residents and including a link to my post 10 Great Reasons to Volunteer in a Nursing Home. This weekend I ran into a friend of mine with two young children. She said she’d read my local message board post and was going to bring her children to volunteer at the home. She’d helped nursing home residents as a youngster, really enjoyed it, and wanted to give her kids the opportunity.
So I was thinking: What if we all did this? What if all of us nursing home workers suggested to our neighbors that they might enjoy volunteering in the local facility? Maybe we’d increase the volunteerism not necessarily in our own place of work, but in nursing homes in general.
Volunteering in a nursing home can be a rewarding, life-changing experience for many people and for a variety of reasons, some of which I’ve posted below. Please add your thoughts in the Comments section.
The Savvy Resident’s Guide is a quick read and a great way to get an overview of how nursing homes work and what residents are thinking. Go into the nursing home prepared. The guidebook is available on Amazon in print and Kindle editions.
1. A little goes a long way: if you can push a wheelchair safely from one location to another, or sew on a button, you can be a hero.
2. For those considering a new career, it’s a great way to see if you’re interested in working with older adults. Based on US demographics, we’ll be needing a lot of folks who enjoy working with “people of age.”
3. Feeling lonely? A nursing home is like a small town. It won’t be long before everyone is happy to see you and greets you by name.
4. It puts your problems into perspective.
5. You can benefit from the experiences of others. Learning about life from those who have lived for a while is an invaluable gift.
6. You’ll fall in love with a new oldster every week.
7. Death won’t seem so scary after a while, but rather a natural and expected passage.
8. You’ll hear living history every day, if you take the time to listen.
9. Your time commitment can vary from daily to once a year and everything in between, making it an incredibly flexible way to give back to the world.
10. As you’re referring to the “nice-looking 86-year old lady” and the “handsome new guy on the second floor,” you’ll realize you don’t look so bad either.
Most of the excellent nursing home volunteers I’ve encountered over the years have been involved with the recreation department, hosting or bringing residents to activities. Here are some other positions of great value to the residents, some of which I’ve witnessed and others I’d like to see. Please add your additions to the Comments section.
In addition to meeting the needs of residents, enhancing community relations, and increasing the visibility of and referrals to the nursing home, Volunteer Coordinators provide a huge bang for the buck.
Ellen Stein, Director of Volunteer Services at the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in New York City, shares her secrets for obtaining 600 hours of weekly volunteer work for every 20 hours she puts into her job.
Dr. El: What do you do as Director of Volunteer Services?
ES: I recruit volunteers, interview them, orient them to the nursing home, place them in a department best suited to their abilities and interests, and provide ongoing training and supervision.
Dr. El: What qualities should nursing homes look for in hiring a volunteer coordinator?
ES: It helps to have an outgoing personality, and to enjoy engaging with people.
Dr. El: How do you get your volunteers?
ES: Believe it or not, most of my volunteers these days come from the computer. I have four listings at a volunteer site at nyc.gov for different locations and aspects of the volunteer program. One of the listings got 5,000 hits last year. [I didn’t try it with every state, of course, but if you Google “volunteer” and your state, you should come up with a site where volunteer opportunities can be offered/reviewed.]
Dr. El: What kind of jobs do people do as volunteers?
ES: Mostly they’re involved with Recreation activities, like bingo, adaptive sports, and parties. Other volunteers visit the residents and act as “listening ears.” Some volunteers, who often have a particular religious affiliation or organization, help with pastoral care. While Cabrini is a Catholic facility, we have residents from many faiths, and we have volunteers providing Buddhist and Jewish services. One of our hairdressers is a volunteer. [Hairdressing is a great service to provide, as some residents have no income at all and can’t afford the regular stylist on site.]
We also have corporate volunteers, where employees of the company come in to run special activities several times a year. They even give holiday gifts, because as you know, some of the residents have no families to give them presents.
In addition, members of a local church are very involved with the residents, visiting regularly, running a street fair once a year, and even taking the residents out to dinner on occasion.
Dr. El: What do you look for in a volunteer?
ES: The best volunteers are reliable, honest, open people who are there to make a difference for the residents.
Occasionally I’ve had to “fire” someone because they didn’t understand the importance of keeping the residents’ information private, or because they spoke to me disrespectfully. If someone’s treating me disrespectfully, I can’t trust they’re treating the residents with respect when I’m not around.
Dr. El: You’re obviously passionate about your work. What do you like most about being Director of Volunteer Services?
ES: I have a very abundant life, and I feel it’s important to share my good fortune with others. It gives me great joy to help the residents, who are so appreciative of the smallest things. I might sing someone a song, or push a someone in a wheelchair to religious services, and you’d think I’d given them the world.
This positive story about long term care is from the perspective of a nursing home administrator/president. If you’d like to add your own good news, please use the comments box at the bottom of the post, or for a possible featured blog post, send me an email using the Contact Me button on the top right corner of the blog. Enjoy!
“Having been a part of the Long Term Care profession for more than 38 years, I find myself always being defensive. You are right in the fact that most of the good news in nursing homes never gets printed, just those about the bad things. I would love to share a couple of projects we are doing in our facility which have been wonderful for those residents entrusted into our care.
One is a writing class. It started out with residents writing/telling something about their first day at school, or their first car, things of that nature. It was fun to hear them share. We had some assistance from our activity staff and a couple of volunteers. We collected these short stories and printed them into a book and invited their friends and family to come to a reading. Most of the residents read their story. It was a blast to watch a gentleman with Alzheimer’s disease read flawlessly as if he were giving a presentation to the city committee. He never missed a beat. Yet when he had finished and a couple of others shared their story, he asked when his turn would be. To assist in our second book, we asked the our local college if any English majors would be interested in coming and assisting the resident in writing their stories. We were able to have two students come for a semester and would record the story and help the resident in getting it ready for print. We have printed 3 booklets of short stories and each resident and family member receives a copy.
Our second project was a dream of one of our staff members and it’s like the “Make a Wish” program. It’s called “Day Dreams.” We have a dream team made up of staff, who then volunteer their time in helping residents have a wish come true. These dreams can vary from going a local restaurant with their loved ones, to flying model airplanes, to traveling out to their homestead, to riding in a parade in a convertible with the top down. There is no cost to the resident of this experience. We have been able to receive some donations to help cover the costs. We have been able to do over 45 dreams since 2005. These are only a few of those dreams.
I share these with you to encourage others, that being a Caregiver in a Nursing Home is a wonderful profession. It is not for everyone, but most of those caring for others are angels.
Thanks for stating there is a lot of good going on in Nursing Homes.”
Synchronicity: A reader commented on one of my recent blog posts, saying that nursing assistants need assistants of their own and noting the improvement volunteers can make in the quality of life in a nursing home. The next morning I read a post on my town message board asking about volunteer opportunities over the holidays, saying that the soup kitchens tend to have too many offers of service and turn people away. I responded by suggesting neighbors consider volunteering at the local nursing home, pointing out how much it’s appreciated by the residents and including a link to my post 
