How to Become an Advocate for the Elderly

Advocates for the elderly examine issues that pose challenges for older adults and strive to improve their living conditions. Nursing home elder abuse, lack of access to medication and healthcare, and transportation challenges are a few examples of difficulties that some older adults face. Advocates help the elderly by focusing on pressing issues and creating greater public awareness. You can become an advocate for seniors by helping them individually where they live, spreading information and generating interest in your community, and working to encourage new policies that protect the elderly.

Method 1 - Helping With Daily Life

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→ Volunteer in a nursing home. Speaking to and spending time with the elderly will increase your awareness about their daily concerns and challenges. Issues you might observe include concerns about healthcare, common health challenges like dementia, unmet nutritional needs, social isolation,and a continued need for physical or recreational activities.

→ Ask the nursing home volunteer coordinators what you can do to help address issues that you see impacting the daily life of those living at the home, on top of your regular volunteer work.

→ If you have a friendly dog or cat, ask if the home participates in an animal visitation program. This allows you and your pet to share your time and provide comfort and happiness to senior home residents.

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→ Volunteer to help independent seniors. While many seniors live in a nursing home, many opt to stay at home and live independently. Volunteer to help them with household tasks, either by working with a local organization or directly contacting specific seniors you know.

→ Household chores and heavy lifting can be particularly difficult for some seniors. Offer to perform basic home maintenance, such as cleaning out the gutters or making basic repairs to fixtures and appliances.

→ Consider working with a program that delivers meals or provides in-home visits for elderly individuals in your area. This helps seniors who cannot access a home or who wish to live independently to still get the care they need.

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→ Learn basic healthcare practices. Healthcare is a major part of senior care, and you can help improve the lives of the seniors with whom you live or work by learning about healthcare practices and policies. Get certified in senior first aid, CPR, and AED, or attend healthcare conferences to learn more about senior care.

→ Check course listing at your local community centers or community colleges to see if senior first aid and emergency care classes are offered, or talk to a local senior center to find resources.

→ If you receive extensive first aid training, consider signing up as a community first responder with your local hospital and let them know that you specialize in elder care.

→ If you are at a conference, inquire about all aspects of health. The physical, social, emotional, and mental health of the elderly must be considered in order to create effective management plans to address these issues.

→ Attend seminars and workshops at healthcare events that are specifically focused on elder care.

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→ Help get seniors online. One major daily challenge faced by seniors is that they are unable to locate or access certain services they need because they lack vital computer literacy. Work with seniors in your community to get internet in their homes, and train them on basic computer skills.

→ Volunteer with a local group dedicated to providing senior technological literacy courses. You may also be able to volunteer as a guide or lab monitor at your local senior center or community center.

→ Ask the seniors you work with, “What are you goals when you go online?” so that you can understand what they are looking to do and provide specific guidance. If, for example, their main motivation is to communicate with family, you do not need to confuse them by also teaching them to pay their bills online.

Method 2 - Generating Awareness in Your Community

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→ Host community forums. Your local community center might serve as a good central location for area residents to gather and learn about the challenges of older adults. Many libraries also have meeting rooms that may be accessible for such gatherings.

→ Invite the elderly to speak about their concerns. Hearing the details of an older adult's health concerns, transportation issues or financial difficulties might inspire compassion and solutions in the minds and hearts of local residents.

→ Advertise the event to local senior care, health care, and other community activists and organization groups. Present it to them as a chance to meet with seniors in their community and get to understand their needs.

→ Arrange for transportation for the elderly. Increase attendance at your community events by providing transportation for older adults who might not be able to attend otherwise.

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→ Create a blog. Use an online blogging or microblogging platform to develop content dedicated to the needs of the elderly. Older adults who are uncomfortable expressing their problems in person might be willing to submit them anonymously online.

→ Provide useful information for senior citizens. Inform the elderly about elder rights, local services and community activities that will help them to overcome loneliness, boredom and feelings of helplessness.

→ Encourage elderly readers to share concerns and challenges that may be going unheard.

→ Also work on content dedicated to individuals trying to help the elderly. Provide useful links to resources such as local advocacy groups, pages about what to do in cases of elder abuse, and volunteer organizations.

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→ Find a community group. Join an organization dedicated to improving the lives of the elderly. Such organizations typically distribute information and articles about the legislative issues that affect the lives of older people. They may also work with elderly people directly to address the issues that matter to them.

→ Find community groups by contacting local senior communities or AARP to get recommendations.

→ Make the most of your time with the organization by volunteering not only to come to meetings, but to distribute information in your neighborhood and around your community. Make time to participate in local events, as well.

Method 3 - Working Politically

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→ Work for an advocacy organization. One of the best ways to advocate for the elderly is to volunteer with or work for an organization that promotes intergenerational communication and engages in legislative advocacy. The National Council on Aging is a good place to start looking for groups and resources to join.

→ Work on a local level to promote or draft protective legislation that creates access to necessary services in your community.

→ Host public awareness events that encourage the community to work to protect elderly citizens, and that connect older members of your community with resources that can help them medically, legally, and financially.

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→ Write to legislative officials. Financial abuse of the elderly, inadequate healthcare,neglect and senior abuse, and lack of transportation services are important issues to bring to the attention of legislatures. Call or write your local and state representatives to let them know that the voting population wants to see more attention to care for the elderly.

→ You may want to start a whole letter writing campaign to get more support behind the message. With proper permission and permits, set up a table at your local community center to help others draft and send in letters.

→ Provide pre-written letters that individuals can read and sign, along with addressed and stamped envelopes and a collections box so that you can take the letters in all at once.

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→ Lobby at local events. Advocate through peaceful protest and demonstrations at local political events. Work with national advocacy groups to get resources and develop a plan of action. Then, gather individuals to participate in your demonstration.

→ Prepare materials in advance to distribute to the public advocating for senior issues. Include information in how people can get involved, such as writing to their congressional representative or voting on certain measures.

→ Keep your protest structured and peaceful. The focus should be on the message, not on causing a public scene.

Method 4 - Getting Employed as an Elder Care Advocate

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→ Pick a care area. There are many ways you may be able to advocate professionally for the elderly. People work as patient advocates between elders and medical professionals, caregivers, or as coordinators helping elderly individuals enroll in medical or government benefit programs.

→ Understand that most forms of elder care will require some sort of training. Look into the requirements for the field of elder advocacy that interests you and see if it is feasible for you to accomplish with your schedule and personal finances.

→ Talk to professionals in different fields of elder advocacy and ask them, "What kind of training did you need for this job? What did the training prepare you for and what did it not cover?"

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→ Get your credentials. Once you have your field picked out, enroll in the courses or program necessary for you to get into your field. Check with local colleges, junior colleges, and community centers to see if they offer programs relevant to your field of interest.

→ Enrolling in a patient advocacy certification program, for example, will teach you about the medical programs relevant to seniors, and the type of specialized care necessary for the elderly, as well as how to work with medical professionals to make sure these needs are met.