I grew up in a very small family surrounded by older adults.
Today, I am a decade older than they were then, but never mind that. I grew up loving them and enjoying their tales of amazing adventures coming to San Francisco from Southern France when they were teenagers.
My grandparents were able to age in place and die at home but that was not the case for my parents. My dad and mom spent their last years in long-term care, dad for six years and mom for seven.
Visiting them every week, I came to have an insider view of aging outside your home. I saw so many of their fellow residents, without family or visitors, adopt their caregivers as family and, when my parents no longer recognized me, light up when I came by.
Finding a rewarding volunteer job after I retired was daunting, until I heard that long-term care ombudsman representatives included both paid staff and volunteers. Coincidentally, I’d stared at the ombudsman poster for years never dreaming I would one day become one.
What’s an ombudsman beside a weird word? We are advocates for the very people I came to love in long-term care. We are the voice of residents when theirs have quieted, we are their friends when none come to call, we are stakeholders in their later years to see that they receive person-centered care and are treated with dignity and respect. We are there to help make their lives better.
We typically visit facilities unannounced and take time to get to know the residents, observe their activities and surroundings, listen to their concerns and investigate complaints with their consent.
Where an outsider might see only an older adult in a wheelchair, we know the poet; where someone else might just see a person struggling to use a walker, we know the World War II nurse. Wrinkled faces and weathered hands do not keep us from connecting with renowned photographers, retired doctors, pharmacy owners and world travelers. They have stories to tell and we are there to hear them. They are gifts to us more than we are to them.
The Marin County Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is federally mandated, state authorized and locally operated by Marin County’s Health and Human Services, Aging and Adult Services Division.
There are approximately 3,000 residents living in 63 long-term care facilities that vary in size and services provided. Some are converted single family homes, former convents and hospitals. Others are mid- to large-size communities.
In addition to being resident advocates, we serve as consultants to family members, staff and the general public. We also offer in-service training and community lectures on ombudsman services, resident rights and more. Our services are free and confidential.
Upon acceptance into the program, ombudsman trainees go through a 36-hour training and certification process, which includes self-study, Zoom classes and in-person visits to facilities. Being an ombudsman isn’t guesswork. It’s based on history and education, as well as compassion. We are always learning through this valuable volunteer experience as well as through annual continuing education classes.
Growing old, as the saying goes, isn’t for sissies. Being old can be assuaged with friendship, kindness and caring. I am forever grateful to the elders I’ve met these past eight years who have so inspired me and who have taught me so much. Ombudsman is a weird word, but there’s nothing weird about the good in the work we do.
If you are interested in volunteering, a 90-minute informational meeting will be held via Zoom on Sept. 22 at 10:30 a.m. To receive a link, call 415-473-7446 or email ombudsman@marincounty.org.
For disability accommodations please phone 415-473-7446, CA Relay 711 or e-mail at least five business days in advance of the event. County officials will do their best to fulfill requests received with less than five business days’ notice. Copies of documents are available in alternative formats, upon request.
Terry Norton, of San Anselmo, is a volunteer for theMarin Department Health and Human Services Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program.
