Kaye Inoshita Selected for the "Practitioner of the Year Award"
 

l to r: Cheryl Miller, Area Agency on Aging District 7, Inc. (AAA7) Ombudsman; Kaye Inoshita, Ombudsman Program Director for AAA7 Regional Long Term Care Ombudsman Program; Jerry McCoy, Health Care Management Program Director for Shawnee State University; Cindy Oakes, Volunteer Coordinator, AAA7; and Pamela K. Matura, Executive Director for AAA7.

Kaye Inoshita was selected for the “Practitioner of the Year Award” by the Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education. She received this award at the 30th Annual Ohio Professional and Student Conference on Aging. The 2006 conference theme was “Social & Generational Justice: Personal & Professional Responsibilities” on March 31, 2006, at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union on the campus of Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio.

She received this award for her project that she started in 2003 and continues with today. She, as the Ombudsman Program Director for the Area Agency on Aging District 7, Inc. Regional Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (RLTCOP), created a partnership with Shawnee State University (SSU) in Portsmouth, Ohio. Ms. Inoshita and Jerry McCoy, instructor of the Health Management Program, collaborated on the development of an internship program for nursing home administrator students. Students are trained and certified as volunteer ombudsmen and volunteer for a minimum of ten weeks making visits to long term care facilities, advocating for residents, and investigating simple complaints. The internship program has been a tremendous asset to the Volunteer Ombudsman Program. The students bring a refreshing enthusiasm to their advocacy efforts and acquire valuable experience to assist them in their future positions as nursing home administrators.

The internship program has benefited residents of long term care facilities in many ways, including providing residents with regular access to an Ombudsman. These visits serve to lessen the loneliness and isolation felt by many nursing home residents. Elderly residents also seem to enjoy the presence of young students in the home and enjoy talking with them. Residents continue to benefit from this program long after the students have completed their internships. This “new breed” of nursing home administrators have a better understanding of residents’ rights and the role of the RLTCOP. They also have an existing working relationship with the Ombudsman Program making it easier for the RLCOP to successfully advocate on behalf of residents.

If you would like additional information on the Area Agency on Aging District 7’s student internship program with Shawnee State University, please contact Cindy Oakes, Volunteer Coordinator, AAA7.