[Archived] City of Alexandria Seeks Volunteers for Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program

City Press Release


	For Immediate Release	For More Information, Contact
	June 5, 2007 PIO# PIO 140-07/sjm	Steve Mason, Director of Communications, at 703.838.4300

City of Alexandria Seeks Volunteers for
Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program

The Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is seeking persons who are diplomatic, assertive, and good communicators to serve as a volunteer ombudsman. Volunteers are assigned to a specific local nursing home or assisted-living facility in the City of Alexandria and make weekly visits, meeting one-on-one with residents. Using the skills of listening, observing and mediating, the ombudsman will work with the residents and their families and staff of the facility to ensure that the rights of the residents are being protected. The ombudsman empowers residents and their families to speak up on their own behalf and helps them to address problems within the facility that they cannot resolve alone.

Applicants must be available to volunteer four hours per week, primarily during regular business hours, and cannot be employed by a long-term care facility. Interviews of applicants will be held this summer in preparation for the next annual training, scheduled for Sept. 17, 18, and 28, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The initial training will address topics such as the Residents’ Bill of Rights, communicating with people with physical or mental impairments, long-term care facility personnel and operation, and complaint handling. Support by the professional ombudsman staff and periodic in-service training are provided thereafter.

The Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is a public service, funded in part by the City of Alexandria’s Area Agency on Aging. It was established to investigate complaints made about community-based, long-term care services.

For further information and to obtain an application, call 703-324-5435, TTY: 703-449-1186, or visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/LTCOmbudsman. To request reasonable accommodations or this information in an alternate format, call the number listed above.

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