Countywide : Volunteers Monitor Care of Elderly

Edward Pickman, 64, says we’re all going to get old--if we’re lucky.

But not every old person feels very lucky. That’s why Pickman and 23 other volunteers are monitoring the quality of care for nearly 5,000 elderly residents of nursing homes in Ventura County.

Free volunteer training begins Monday and a family support group begins Sept. 17, both at the Ventura County long-term care ombudsman program office in Ventura.

The ombudsman program handles problems of residents of long-term care facilities, including nursing homes and residential facilities in private homes.

In 1978 Congress authorized a national program to investigate and try to resolve complaints of older people who live in long-term care facilities.

After 36 hours of training over eight sessions, volunteer ombudsmen go into the field with experienced partners and are later certified. Ombudsmen, who range in age from 40 to the mid-70s, visit facilities weekly.

One of four Americans will spend time in a nursing home, according to national statistics. Over half of the residents are ambulatory and over half have some form of dementia. In Ventura County, more than half of the residents receive no visitors and have no close relatives or advocates.

In 1981, program director Shirley Radding and Bee Ellisman started the ombudsman program in Ventura County as an outgrowth of their volunteer work for the National Council of Jewish Women. They run the program along with Susan Miller, who coordinates volunteers and runs a support group for people who are considering placing a family member in a nursing home.

“The Ventura County program is very active and has really expanded its role beyond the strictly monitoring program it once was,” said Lauren Wonder, spokeswoman for the California Department of Aging, which administers 35 ombudsman programs statewide.

Wonder said the department has begun statewide recruitment for the program. Between July, 1989, and June of this year, Ventura County had only 20 volunteers making 1,300 visits to 75 facilities. They investigated more than 1,500 complaints.