Needs From: United Way Centraide North East Ontario Volunteer Resource Centre

Volunteers will help the Life Enrichment staff with their activities for the day.

Programs that need support are bingo, live music and exercise.

Program Name: Friendly Visits (1 to 1 Person-Centered Engagement Program)

Program Description:   One to One visits are centred on contributing towards the unique needs, abilities and interests of patients in fulfilling the social, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual needs and support through purposeful and meaningful experiences in their everyday lives. Promoting and encouraging as much independence and self-care as possible in comfort, compassion and care, those volunteers assist our holistic based team-oriented practices and standards in supporting these health and wellness goals.

Where: St. Joseph's Villa, or St. Joseph's Continuing Care Centre Sites - South Bay Road Campus (across from Laurentian University) or our Downtown Geriatric Rehabilitative Care Site.

When: Visiting Program varies depending on the availability of volunteers and the needs/responses of the current resident/patient population. 

Volunteer Role:

Volunteers are welcome to join us on a routine schedule that best suits their schedule throughout the week and must have a sincere desire to work with residents/patients of a variety of interests, personalities and ability levels, have an understanding of the aging process through provided orientation and program-specific training, involving the person-centred approaches to meeting individual needs of our residents' wellness goals.

This role is great for leaders who enjoy creative relaxing outdoor time to aid with gardening initiatives at the centre. 

Service Name: Assistance on External Healthcare Appointments

Where a resident/patient may have no representative(s), AND, is unable to pay for a private caregiving agency, a referral may be made to Volunteer Services requesting a volunteer to accompany a resident/patient requiring accompaniment.

When: As required

Where: Various external locations for appointments such as; hospital, dental, vision, hearing, clinics, etc. 

Procedure/description:

Volunteers may sign up to be on a call list within the Volunteer Services office to pick up occasional calls inquiring availability to support accompaniment for residents/patients who have no alternative support on occasional community healthcare appointments.  Transportation and appointment details are arranged prior to appointment time.  Volunteer are requested to accompany residents/patients to assist with portering, to stay with the resident/patient during the appointment, and safe return with the resident/patient via handi-transit or other arranged mobility transportation specific to the unique needs of the resident/patient.

Please note: Volunteer referrals are not received if the resident/patient is exhibiting high responsive behaviours that could put both the resident/patient and the volunteer at risk, requires feeding, administration of medication; toileting and/or transfers as required for the patient’s need through the duration of the appointment time.

Program Name:  Feeding Assistance Program

Goal:     To ensure residents meet their physiological needs of nutritional intake and are provided with a dignified, pleasant social dining experience in their provision of care in body, mind and spirit. 

Objective: 

To maximize independence with queuing and physical assistance with utensils and self-feeding

To engage a calm and therapeutic social environment that assists to decrease anxiety and reduce agitation

To encourage a pleasant social interaction and conversation

To ensure optimal nutritional intake.

Background

Malnutrition and dehydration are prevalent in residents residing in long term care and are associated with higher rates of complications. Many residents experience gross and/or fine motor impairment, swallowing difficulties, disorientation and confusion, and poor appetite, all of which impact on nutritional intake.

Feeding assistance has traditionally been the role of nursing staff (RNs, RPNs, PCAs), however with an ageing and more complex population there are challenges in socializing and feeding the growing number of nutritionally vulnerable people. Studies have shown that dietary intakes increase when volunteers are available to complement the efforts of nursing staff in this area.

Volunteers assist residents who are unable to independently feed themselves in order to improve dietary intake. In addition, there are other activities listed below that volunteers may assist with which benefit the overall quality of life and environment of residents and staff environment during mealtimes.

The Feeding Assistance Training Session provided to volunteers upon initial entry into Volunteer Program includes an overview of:

Where:  St. Joseph’s Villa Dining Rooms in the resident assigned neighborhood as scheduled through the Volunteer Coordinator.

When:  Scheduled mealtimes which are: Breakfast 8:30 a.m., Lunch 12:00 p.m., and Dinner 5:00 p.m.

REFERENCES

Chang C Wyckle M, Madigan E (2006). The effect of a feeding skills training program for nursing assistants who feed dementia patients in Taiwanese nursing homes. Geriatric Nursing.

Division of Quality Assurance. (2009) Wisconsin Feeding Assistant Training Curriculum. Department of Health Services, State of Wisconsin.

Walton K, Williams P, Bracks J et al. (2008). A volunteer feeding assistance program can improve dietary intakes of elderly patients--a pilot study. Appetite.

Service Name: Assistance to Hair Salon Services

When: 1 weekly shift per week on either: Wednesdays or Thursdays from 9:30am-12:00pm or bi-weekly Tuesdays from 9:30am- 1:30pm

Goal/Benefits of this service include:

Procedure/Description:

Knocking on resident/patient door listed as for appointment date, offer assistance with portering or accompaniment with those residents/patients to and from, as well throughout: awaiting their appointments, to provide a supportive, therapeutic, healing environment and opportunity for socialization, as well as  queuing with those experiencing cognitive impairment(s).

Objective:
 -To provide engaging experiences that promote increasing sense of self-esteem, positive self-image and personal self-worth
 -To engage residents/patients in a calm and relaxing environment that promote sensory stimulation
 -To incorporate support to services that meet with unique resident/patient needs, alleviate and decrease isolation, depression and decline and reduce the desire to become withdrawn
 -To offer opportunities to be out and engaged within one’s own community in a unique social environment with support.

Observation:   Provide prompting/cuing when necessary.