Volunteer program brings companionship to seniors

High schoolers gain job experience, skills

Older people walk slowly, can’t hear, and smell like mothballs. That’s what some Northwest Connecticut high school students thought before completing a program that taught them companionship skills for the frail elderly.

As a result of the Take the Challenge program, the students learned an appreciation of the elderly. They also received volunteer experience and job readiness training.

In addition, the seniors gained friends for several hours a week, and the organization that developed the program earned goodwill in the community and a base of teens who might decide to be home health aides in the future.

"It’s a win-win situation," says Barbara Kennedy, director of the Northwest Regional Office of Connecticut Community Care Inc. (CCCI). "The program can be replicated because it has a value to everyone." CCCI, based in Bristol, CT, is a nonprofit organization that helps older adults and disabled individuals and their families find solutions to long-term care problems through case management services.

CCCI saw a need for the program in the Waterbury area, she says. "I have more than 1,500 clients in the northwest area. The average [client] is an 81-year-old female who lives alone. She may have some family, but they may not be close by, or they work or have other [obligations]."

The elder, therefore, has idle time and can feel isolated. "We started thinking about where we might be able to get some companionship for this type of individual."

A volunteer program that would use teens in the area as companions sounded like a viable option. The teens would have a chance for training, education, and experience in career paths. They would also gain volunteer experience to put on their resumes.

A grant from the Waterbury Foundation funded the program, and CCCI staff recruited teens between the ages of 15 and 19 at area urban high schools in Waterbury. The teens needed to spend at least three hours each week with the seniors.

CCCI had hoped to recruit about 50 students for the program, Kennedy says. "More teens [than that] came to find out about the program, but because of conflicts in their schedules, not everyone started it."

"We wanted people to have a broader viewpoint than just go sit with an elder for an afternoon,’" explains Kennedy.

The program was broken down into several components, each designed to add to the knowledge and job readiness of the students. Originally, students attended one all-day session that was held on a Saturday.

The amount of information, though, was overwhelming to the students, and they starting getting restless by the afternoon, Kennedy says. So CCCI broke the program into shorter segments for the second and third training groups. Classes were held on different Saturdays, and the students had to attend on their own time.

Here are the components of the program and what they included:

• Step one: Job readiness.

CCCI ran the job readiness component in conjunction with the Waterbury YWCA. In this step, the students learn tips on interviewing, dressing for the job, filling out job applications, and writing resumes. They also learn communications skills and job etiquette.

• Step two: The roles and responsibilities of a volunteer.

This step gives the teens an understanding of disabilities in older adults and teaches them how to perform a variety of jobs to help the seniors.

Some of the components students are taught in this component include:

job description;

health screening, learning about TB and being tested themselves;

tips on communicating with an older person;

stats on elders;

common disabilities in older people;

safety and emergency measures;

the matching process with the elders;

the importance of the relationship with the CCCI case manager.

• Step three: Sensitivity training.

CCCI provided the gerontology sensitivity training in conjunction with St. Joseph’s College in West Hartford. The training introduced students to the normal developmental process that older people experience, both physically and emotionally.

This component provided some of the more memorable parts of the training. Students put cotton balls in their ears to make themselves hard of hearing and smeared Vaseline over their glasses to mimic glaucoma. They also used a cane or a wheelchair to move about.

"It gives them the idea of why the elder moves so slow," explains Kennedy. "They wonder, Why do [the elderly] react so slowly? They can’t see it. By having that experience, it [changes their perception]. It’s a whole different world."

Case managers at the regional CCCI office gave their seniors the option of requesting a student companion. The seniors’ homes were then evaluated to ensure they were safe for teens.

The case managers primarily made the matches based on location and schedule of both student and senior, Kennedy says. A few elders also indicated a preference for a type of student, such as a female.

The case manager or coordinator would accompany the teen when the introduction to the senior was made. "If it wasn’t a good fit, [the seniors or students] would say so," Kennedy says. "We had some wonderful matches and some wonderful experiences," she adds. CCCI also had some situations where the personalities of the seniors and students clashed, or where the teens went one time and conflicts kept them from returning. In those cases, a second volunteer was recruited. "Similar things would happen to any program that you’re doing."

Students spent time doing a variety of activities with the seniors, including going for walks, creating photo scrapbooks, working jigsaw puzzles, helping with reading and letter writing, and just visiting.

The fun side of the program was hearing the excitement of the students and how well things were going, Kennedy says. "The individuals gained a lot from the program. This was an opportunity for teens, especially ones from the inner city, to learn about volunteerism." The program also prepares them for careers, she adds, possibly in health care. "It helps pave the way."

The program even received publicity in The New York Times. As one student stated in the article, "The skills we learned in training were things we’ll carry with us through life."