Companion Care Program
About the Companion Care Program
Hospitals can be lonely places for patients, especially older adults who may have few, if any, family members or friends living nearby to visit them. That’s why, through the vision and generosity of the Samuel Steinberg Family Foundation, the Companion Care Program was created at the Geriatrics Special Care unit in Santa Monica.
Under this program, specially trained volunteers provide individualized companionship to older patients while they are hospitalized. Typical activities provided by these companions include – but are not limited to – reading, playing games, assisting with feeding and accompanying patients on walks under a nurse’s supervision.
The Companion Care Program was also recently featured on CBS news! >
Mission
A structured volunteer program using trained volunteers to provide purposeful visitation to improve patient’s orientation, level of calmness, and mood.
Scheduling information
The program currently runs 7 days/week, 365 days a year. 7am-11pm. The program is very flexible and volunteers can sign up for their own shifts using our online system. We require a minimum of 4 hours/week and no more than 6 hours/day. 150 hours is the program completion to be considered for a letter of recommendation.
Onboarding process
Once your application is completed and accepted you will be able to complete the rest of the online application process which will include online training modules and health records submission. Once this is complete you will be invited to an in-person orientation at the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center where you will be trained on isolation precautions, delirium/dementia, how to interact with a geriatric patient and feeding training.
How to Volunteer
Anyone over the age of 18 can apply to volunteer in the Companion Care program. The minimum amount of hours volunteers must commit to the program is 150 hours. Please use the link below to apply:
volunteer.uclahealth.org/custom/527/opp_details/4135
Contact Us
If you would like to volunteer, or for more information about the Companion Care program, please email Jagrup Kaur, [email protected]