Our Role as Advocate

In long term care, there are many factors that affect each resident’s own sense of empowerment. The experience of living in a facility and relying on others can considerably diminish one’s sense of self and his/her capabilities.
Facility residents find themselves thrust into a new environment with new rules and new social codes. They may find themselves without the energy, health or mobility to figure out how to get help. The Ombudsman is specially trained to play an important role in helping people regain their voice and their sense of personal power.

The Ombudsman encourages residents who have always felt comfortable speaking for themselves to continue to do so. We can provide information about their rights and point them in the right direction. For others, we help carry more of the load. Our presence as an Ombudsman can help “level the field” and add balance for residents and their families.

An institution develops policies and practices designed to ensure efficiency. While efficiency is a legitimate business concern, these practices oftentimes conflict with the needs of individual residents. The goal of the Ombudsman is to ensure that residents’ rights are understood and honored and to find practical solutions to problems that arise when the interests of the facility and the resident are in conflict.

We at Ombudsman Services are proud to offer our services at no cost to the residents and families that we serve. We have been serving residents of licensed long term care facilities for more than 30 years. Residents can rest assured that skilled Ombudsman advocates will review the health care and daily life support they receive, even when they can no longer speak for themselves.

The Ombudsman is there to protect residents from coercion or retaliation.