Friendly Visitor Program

The National Grandparents Day Council has had the good fortune to learn of an excellent program initiated by the Senior Citizens of Greater Dallas.

Across the United States, fully sixty percent of nursing home residents never receive a visitor. But in Dallas, Texas, those statistics don't apply. The Senior Citizens of Greater Dallas have developed a "Friendly Visitor" program, with hundreds of "Friendly Visitor" volunteers spending time with lonely aged throughout the year.

Their staff has even put together a comprehensive handbook for their volunteers, which covers such topics as "Guidelines for Visiting", "Communication Guidelines", "Improving Communication with a Confused Resident", etc. This is valuable and essential information for anyone wishing to visit convalescent elderly. The information is so relevant to all nursing home visitors (including our own "Forget-Me-Not" volunteers) that we have asked permission to reprint some of it here. The Dallas staff graciously allowed us to do so.

Thus you may peruse the following titles and see which of these excellent suggestions you would like to apply to your own volunteer visiting.

Guidelines for Visiting

Communication Guidelines

Improving Communication with a Confused Resident