Each volunteer agrees to adhere to these standards.
HIPAA: (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Standards:
Confidentiality means protecting a care receiver’s privacy and sharing care receiver business only with those who have a need to know. The “need to know” is defined as the need to have information to perform your job as a volunteer. Confidential care receiver information includes, but is not limited to: care receiver’s participation in ASSIST, personal information (name, phone #, date of birth, etc.), medical and financial information, quality assurance and quality improvement information, and risk management data. When you become a volunteer you agree to maintain absolute confidentiality of all ASSIST information. This expectation pertains to care receiver as well as their family members (including children, parents, spouses, siblings.) Any breach of confidentiality is grounds for corrective action.
DRESS CODE:
We ask that volunteers dress in a neat, clean and modest manner. One way to check the appropriateness of your attire is to determine if you can bend, kneel, reach and move around with ease and modesty. Wear comfortable clothing and shoes when you’re in the field as you will often be walking, standing, and climbing stairs. Volunteers are asked to always wear a name tag identifying them as an ASSIST volunteer.
DEPENDABILITY:
Once you become an ASSIST volunteer we depend on you and are short-handed when you don’t make an assigned visit with a Care Receiver. If you must miss an assignment due to illness or emergency, please notify the ASSIST Volunteer Program Coordinator as soon as possible so we can make every effort to meet the needs of the Care Receiver.
CORE VALUES:
- ASSIST is committed to assuring that both Care Receivers and volunteers are treated with respect.
- ASSIST employees and volunteers are motivated by love and compassion within a network of healthy boundaries.
- ASSIST employees and volunteers will continually grow in the knowledge and capacity to connect Care Receivers with the resources they need to regain their health and independence. We do not personally provide transportation, medical or personal care.
- ASSIST employees and volunteers are committed to loving our neighbors without judgment or prejudice.
PROHIBITED ACTS OF KINDNESS:
While we appreciate kind and generous hearts, we require that volunteers agree not to engage in activities that may make the Care Receiver dependent upon ASSIST or the volunteers. Our role is to connect Care Receivers with resources, not to provide them ourselves. Please remember that we are not rescuers; our goal is to help the Care Receiver achieve independence. We do not personally provide meals, housing, medical care, transportation, loans, gifts, or other provisions. Volunteers are prohibited from receiving any gifts, household items or money from the Care Receiver. Our services are free and receiving gifts negates that concept.
TRAINING:
All ASSIST volunteers agree to complete an initial 8-hour training workshop and attend monthly training meetings. If an emergency comes up and you cannot attend the monthly meeting you must notify the ASSIST Volunteer Program Coordinator so that other arrangements can be made.
REPORTING:
Volunteers agree to record all contact with the Care Receiver and to record any efforts, interventions or collaborations made on behalf of the Care Receiver. Reports will include personal mileage and the total time spent with the Care Receiver (or working on their needs) as well as the results of the efforts. In addition, ASSIST volunteer activities not designated to a specific Care Receiver (such as training or general office projects) are also recorded. Reports will be completed same day or next day.
EXAMPLES OF CONNECTIONS WE FACILITATE:
ASSIST volunteers offer a wide variety of services that may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Provide a listening ear to understand the Care Receiver’s concerns
- Research available resources and connect the Care Receiver to new resources
- Organize a system for tracking and paying medical bills
- Connect the Care Receiver to financial, medical or energy assistance programs
- Encourage communication with a primary care provider for oversight of health conditions and medication management.
- Link the Care Receiver to programs like Meals on Wheels, Senior Center services, Agency on Aging services, Eagle Transit transportation services, Veteran’s services or grocery and prescription delivery programs