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voluntarily helping older people navigate Medicare, and still gets a surge of good feelings after each encounter.
“Every time I talk to a client, I feel it’s making a positive difference for them,” said the Orange County retiree. “It makes me feel good to know I’m helping.”
Research has repeatedly demonstrated the positive impacts of volunteer work for older adults; a comprehensive review of more than 100 papers on its benefits found that when older adults volunteer they experience reduced symptoms of depression, better self-reported health, fewer functional limitations, and lower mortality. When the recipient of that volunteer service is also an older adult, the effect may be even more powerful.
The mutual benefits of older volunteers supporting other older adults is the fuel that powers and sustains two critical California programs serving older adults. HICAP (the Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program) helps with Medicare matters. California’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman program sends volunteers into skilled nursing facilities and residential care homes to make regular visits to assess clients’ welfare and investigate allegations of elder abuse.
has spent 11 years
Gene Campbell
HICAP offices are located across California; each is operated by a local, county, or regional agency, and all are administered through the California Department of Aging. HICAP offers free, confidential education and counseling on Medicare, long-term care, and other health insurance to anyone 65 and older or their families. Counselors provide services at senior or community centers or by telephone from a call center.
Linda Cardoza, HICAP director in Orange County, said most of her volunteers are retired professionals.
“They have the skillset to communicate, and the desire, passion, and compassion to work with older adults,” she said. “They want to keep their minds active, and this is a tough topic. None of us knows everything.”
Volunteers must learn many of the technical aspects of the complex Medicare program, but more importantly must be able to apply those to individual situations clients are facing.
Judy Grant of Irvine has volunteered most of her adult life and became a HICAP volunteer eight years ago. She’s enjoyed learning about the Medicare system, which even she hadn’t fully understood upon retirement from state service. After completing HICAP training and an internship, Grant is now familiar with many of the nuances of Medicare and can counsel others finding themselves in the same predicament.
“People come in, and the word they use is ‘overwhelmed,’” she said. “They are flummoxed. I love it when I can explain something and they go, ‘Oh, I see!’”
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HICAP offices are located across California; each is operated by a local, county, or regional agency, and all are administered through the California Department of Aging. HICAP offers free, confidential education and counseling on Medicare, long-term care, and other health insurance to anyone 65 and older or their families. Counselors provide services at senior or community centers or by telephone from a call center.
Linda Cardoza, HICAP director in Orange County, said most of her volunteers are retired professionals.
“They have the skillset to communicate, and the desire, passion, and compassion to work with older adults,” she said. “They want to keep their minds active, and this is a tough topic. None of us knows everything.”
Volunteers must learn many of the technical aspects of the complex Medicare program, but more importantly must be able to apply those to individual situations clients are facing.
Judy Grant of Irvine has volunteered most of her adult life and became a HICAP volunteer eight years ago. She’s enjoyed learning about the Medicare system, which even she hadn’t fully understood upon retirement from state service. After completing HICAP training and an internship, Grant is now familiar with many of the nuances of Medicare and can counsel others finding themselves in the same predicament.
“People come in, and the word they use is ‘overwhelmed,’” she said. “They are flummoxed. I love it when I can explain something and they go, ‘Oh, I see!’”
has spent 11 years voluntarily helping older people navigate Medicare, and still gets a surge of good feelings after each encounter.
“Every time I talk to a client, I feel it’s making a positive difference for them,” said the Orange County retiree. “It makes me feel good to know I’m helping.”
Research has repeatedly demonstrated the positive impacts of volunteer work for older adults; a comprehensive review of more than 100 papers on its benefits found that when older adults volunteer they experience reduced symptoms of depression, better self-reported health, fewer functional limitations, and lower mortality. When the recipient of that volunteer service is also an older adult, the effect may be even more powerful.
The mutual benefits of older volunteers supporting other older adults is the fuel that powers and sustains two critical California programs serving older adults. HICAP (the Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program) helps with Medicare matters. California’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman program sends volunteers into skilled nursing facilities and residential care homes to make regular visits to assess clients’ welfare and investigate allegations of elder abuse.
How Can HICAP Help?
The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program also operates in communities throughout the state, drawing on volunteers like Margaret Noel, a retired nurse who lives in Sonoma.
Having worked in hospice and skilled nursing, Noel said she’s familiar with the issues that arise among people in skilled or residential care facilities, but that serving as an ombudsman volunteer is quite different than being a nurse. As a volunteer she plays more of an advocacy role, working with residents, their families, and facility administrators to ensure the residents’ rights are being upheld and that they feel comfortable, safe, or just heard.
Ruth Wells, manager of the ombudsman program in Sonoma County, said many complaints can be resolved within the facility.
“If it’s a conversation about adjusting how the care is delivered or a meal preference issue, we can resolve those,” she said. “Our first choice is to get the resident to self-advocate, to empower them to be their own spokesperson. If they are not comfortable, our role is to make sure their voice is heard. If we can’t resolve it, we step it up to state licensing, and, in abuse situations, also to law enforcement.”
She said to be a good volunteer you need to have a sense of curiosity, be a good listener, knowledgeable about residents' rights in California, and willing to speak truth to power. She said volunteers also must maintain confidentiality, divulging information that the residents share only with their consent.
“It's really important to honor and respect these people and give them the best they can at the end of their lives,” she said. “They are rife with wisdom. Some have no one to talk to. They need someone to listen.”
What Do Long-Term Care Ombudsman Volunteers Do?
Demand for volunteers has grown since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and both programs are eager to find more people willing to serve. They especially seek volunteers from different backgrounds, and people who speak languages other than English to better serve and reflect the communities they represent.
Learn how to become a volunteer for a program like HICAP or the Long-Term Care Ombudsman.
The Governor’s California Volunteers program, launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, also enlists volunteers of all ages and for many kinds of programs, including disaster response and AmeriCorps.
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"Every time I talk to a client, I feel it's making a postive Difference for them."
-Gene Campbell
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The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program also operates in communities throughout the state, drawing on volunteers like Margaret Noel, a retired nurse who lives in Sonoma.
Having worked in hospice and skilled nursing, Noel said she’s familiar with the issues that arise among people in skilled or residential care facilities, but that serving as an ombudsman volunteer is quite different than being a nurse. As a volunteer she plays more of an advocacy role, working with residents, their families, and facility administrators to ensure the residents’ rights are being upheld and that they feel comfortable, safe, or just heard.
Ruth Wells, manager of the ombudsman program in Sonoma County, said many complaints can be resolved within the facility.
“If it’s a conversation about adjusting how the care is delivered or a meal preference issue, we can resolve those,” she said. “Our first choice is to get the resident to self-advocate, to empower them to be their own spokesperson. If they are not comfortable, our role is to make sure their voice is heard. If we can’t resolve it, we step it up to state licensing, and, in abuse situations, also to law enforcement.”
She said to be a good volunteer you need to have a sense of curiosity, be a good listener, knowledgeable about resident's rights in California, and willing to speak truth to power. She said volunteers also must maintain confidentiality, divulging information that the residents share only with their consent.
“It's really important to honor and respect these people and give them the best they can at the end of their lives,” she said. “They are rife with wisdom. Some have no one to talk to. They need someone to listen.”
HOW CAN HICAP HELP?
Demand for volunteers has grown since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and both programs are eager to find more people willing to serve. They especially seek volunteers from different backgrounds, and people who speak languages other than English to better serve and reflect the communities they represent.
Learn how to become a volunteer for a program like HICAP or the Long-Term Care Ombudsman.
The Governor’s California Volunteers program, launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, also enlists volunteers of all ages and for many kinds of programs, including disaster response and AmeriCorps.
WHAT DO LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN VOLUNTEERS DO?