Pilot study of a visitor volunteer programme for community elderly people receiving home health care

There is a need to evaluate community support programmes for elderly people . In this randomized control trial (RCT), we determined the effectiveness o f 'friendly visitors' in a volunteer programme of a visiting nurses organiz ation in Southern Ontario, Canada. The Volunteer Friendly Visitor Programme was developed to support elderly people receiving homemaking and nursing c are in the community. Volunteers are screened, trained, interviewed and mat ched to homebound elderly clients for general interest, visit expectations and personality. Volunteers spend three to four hours on average per week w ith clients socializing in mutually agreed-upon ways. The nursing staff ide ntified clients who were lonely for this additional support. These newly-re ferred clients were randomly allocated to receive a friendly visitor or not for six weeks. Those receiving the volunteer visitor improved in life sati sfaction and two social support measures: worth and social integration. Thu s, the addition of volunteer visitors to planned homemaking and nursing car e made a difference for elderly in the community.