For the past 25 years, I have been advocating for people to visit the people living in nursing homes. So often nursing home residents do not get visitors which may lead to feelings of loneliness and uselessness. Over the last seven years I have been […]
Volunteer Programs and Your Public Image
Perceptions are everything. From my earliest days of military training to the present, I have been taught and now am teaching my own students and volunteers that perceptions powerfully influence the way people think and react. This holds true for nursing homes as well. Recruiting […]
Hillcrest Health Services Gets It!
It is becoming increasingly evident that providing quality of life through “person-centered” care is as much about nurturing meaningful relationships, that include trust, intimacy and empathy between two people. Volunteers, properly screened and trained are in the perfect place to provide that level of care. […]
Down Under: Relationship-Centered Care – Part II
As promised here is Part II, sharing what I’ve learned from Daniella Greenwood’s work at Arcare located in Australia. What is becoming very apparent to me is that caring for someone is not a one-way street. In fact, the way person-centered care is currently being […]
Down Under: Relationship Centered Care
It all started when someone tweeted the link to a video entitled, “It Takes a Community.” Curious, I clicked on the link to watch it. The video starts off like many promotional videos but about 30 seconds into this video, I realized there was something […]
Kristiansund kommune
As promised, VolunCheerLeader.com will highlight great volunteer programs and promote the idea that volunteers, i.e., “super” volunteers can take on increased responsibilities to become a trained and meaningful support for professional care staff who are often stressed and overworked, with residents, patients who suffer from […]
How do you recruit 800 volunteers?
As you know, VolunCheerLeader is on a quest to identify and highlight outstanding volunteer programs. My journey is taking to me many different places to include Auckland, New Zealand. Recently, while explaining my mission to someone they immediately piped up and said, “You have to […]
“What about liability?”
One of the first questions I get from owner/operators of nursing homes concerning volunteers is, “What about liability?” My response: “What about it?”
Prior to the Nursing Home Reform Act…
The history of volunteers and their role in nursing homes is of great interest to me at the moment. I’m writing about the evolution of the volunteer role in nursing homes before and after the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987. There is no doubt […]
Welcome to VolunCheerLeader!
Welcome to VolunCheerLeader! VolunCheerLeader is your source for developing, implementing, revamping or evaluating your nursing home volunteer program! Delivering quality, “person-centered” care is a global need. People from around the world will gather here to collaborate, and to promote the “super” volunteer, the “credentialed” volunteer […]