Four volunteer ombudsmen recently completed three days of Certification Training for the Pennsylvania State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Office.
The ladies, Geneva McCallum, Cathy Sparlin-Caldwell, Paulette Way and Retta Webb, had previously completed basic Tier One Training and served as volunteers for a number of years.
Sparlin-Caldwell has served since January of 2008, McCallum and Webb since June of 2015 and Way since April of 2017.
Over the three-day period, the women completed both online computer and classroom training for a total of 24 hours.
Topics included Aging Resources; Alzheimer’s Disease and Other-Related Dementia Disorders; Case, Complaint and Consultation; Confidentiality, Consent and Resident Direction; Culture Change; Dealing with Grief and Loss; Ethics; Facility Closures, Discharges and Appeals; Individual Conflicts of Interest; Introduction to Documentation; Introduction to OmbudsManager; Levels of Legal Authority; Medicare; Mental Health; Ombudsmen, Facility and Staff Relationships; PA Ombudsman Program Structure; PEER; Powers of Attorney; Regulations; Resident Rights; Risk; and Understanding Diversity.
The Ombudsman Program represents a nation-wide network, established under the Older Americans Act. Nationally, in 2018, the ombudsman program investigated over 194,516 complaints and provided information on long-term care to another 409,311 people.
Ombudsmen serve as advocates for residents who live in long-term care facilities, such as nursing and personal care homes. They assure that residents enjoy quality of care and quality of life and that resident rights, guaranteed under federal and state law, are respected. They are resident-directed, and all information is kept strictly confidential.
Pictured, from left to right, are: Retta Webb, Geneva McCallum and Paulette Way. Absent from the photo is Cathy Sparlin-Caldwell.
Anyone who may be interested in the Ombudsman Program as either a resident or prospective volunteer should contact the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging Inc., 1-800-225-8571 or 814-765-2696.
