About At Your Side Volunteers

What Volunteers Do

Whether it is preparing for a medical appointment by prioritizing a list of concerns, asking for explanations in lay-mans’ terms, or requesting a doctor to speak louder for the hearing impaired, At Your Side volunteers are the link to addressing these needs.

In doing so, they provide peace of mind and enhance the person’s ability to better manage their healthcare.

High caliber volunteers help At Your Side fulfill its mission to improve healthcare quality through greater understanding and active participation, undertaken by all parties:  the elder or individual in need, the medical provider, and the advocate.

Volunteer Selection and Training

Potential volunteers meet with the Program Coordinator on more than one occasion to discuss the program, its mission, and their interest.

If both parties are comfortable, a Criminal Offense Record Inquiry (CORI) is administered, along with contacting several personal and professional references.  

At Your Side volunteers receive six to eight hours of training covering numerous topics, most importantly HIPAA third party responsibilities.  Protection of our clients is of utmost importance.

After the training, volunteers are required to sign an agreement acknowledging the responsibilities being undertaken.  Only then are elders and volunteers introduced and matched up, as both must be able to relate to and understand each other.  

Before a match is finalized, volunteers visit the individual and spend time getting to know them, so that a sense of trust and comfort develops when talking about medical problems and concerns.

A key element among our advocates is the sense of community, which develops within our circle of volunteers through monthly meetings where experiences are exchanged and discussed, (in case study fashion) while maintaining client privacy.  Occasionally, these meetings also include training sections on specific topics such as elder depression, or other topics of interest.