Volunteer and Paid Ombudsmen Investigating Complaints in Six States: A Natural Triaging

Abstract

The Long Term Care Ombudsman Program provides an opportunity to explore how a public mandate is implemented through the use of paid and volunteer ombudsmen who investigate complaints in long-term care facilities. In this article, the authors report partial findings from a growing database across six states, focusing on what is known about the use of volunteers and paid staff complaint investigation. Findings reveal differences in the types of complaints received, the sources of complaints, and the percentage of complex (difficult) complaints investigated by volunteers and paid staff. These differences result in a natural triaging that occurs among volunteers and paid staff, so that complaints viewed as difficult to verify and resolve are automatically given to paid staff.