Volunteers needed to survey Burnaby long-term care home residents

Give the gift of time to B.C. seniors and make every voice count.

Want to support seniors and help give them a voice?

An independent agency of B.C. government is looking for you. The B.C. Office of the Seniors Advocate (OSA) is calling on volunteers across the province to help in its survey of B.C. seniors in long-term care homes about the quality of their lives.

Between now and late spring, the initiative, Every Voice Counts, will see trained volunteers survey British Columbia (including Burnaby) long-term care home residents and their loved ones about the residents’ experiences in the homes, and will seek collective input on making improvements both provincially and locally.

According to the Survey BC Seniors website, they aim to reach out to 29,284 residents living in 294 publicly funded care homes
in B.C. and their families.

The same survey, which was conducted for the first time pre-pandemic in 2016/17, noted areas of improvement in care homes. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said it is even more important to assess what life is like for seniors in long-term care facilities and how it can be made better.

Survey BC Seniors encourages more volunteer surveyors to join the team — especially in Burnaby, where seniors from eight facilities are waiting to be heard and share their voice and concerns.

Anyone interested in volunteering and making a difference in seniors’ lives can apply on the website. All necessary training is provided.

Volunteers are encouraged to apply within the next couple of weeks — however, there is no closing date on applications.

Originally appears here by Abhinaya Natesh on March 7, 2023.