British Columbia's Seniors Advocate is looking for volunteers to interview more than 200 residents in long-term care facilities in Fort St. John and Dawson Creek as part of a province-wide survey into residential care.
The agency has six volunteers currently signed up, but more than 20 are needed to accomplish the task.
“This is the first time in this province that we have had volunteers sit face to face with some of our most vulnerable seniors on such a large scale and the feedback we’re receiving from both volunteers and seniors themselves is very positive,” Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie says.
The survey includes 23 sites under Northern Health jurisdiction, including Peace Villa in Fort St. John and Rotary Manor in Dawson Creek.
Volunteers will be trained to conduct in-person interviews with residents, and ask questions about food quality, staff care, safety and security, comfort, medications and activities, and more. The agency says the results will "provide a road map for improvements of quality of care and services provided to residents and their families in residential care."
A one-day training session has been tentatively set for Oct. 12, and volunteers are being asked to commit 30 hours to the project. The interviews will be conducted over a six to eight week period, and are set to begin in mid-October and run through to December.
For more information, visit www.surveybcseniors.org or call 1-877-952-3181.
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