Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Volunteer Shortage

Takeaways

• The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP) helps older adults and their families resolve complaints about nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
• The program relies heavily on trained volunteers who visit facilities, investigate issues, and protect the rights of residents.
• The number of volunteer hours has dropped by more than half since 2016. At the same time, the need for ombudsmen is growing as the population ages, leading to a much larger number of residents assigned to each ombudsman.
• Complaints related to resident care have also been on the rise.
• The volunteer shortage threatens the LTCOP’s ability to provide essential protection for vulnerable long-term care residents.
• The program welcomes new volunteers aged 18 and older to help advocate for residents.

When older adults living in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities have complaints, they can turn to the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP) in their state for help.

The program operates in all 50 states under the federal Older Americans Act. Its volunteers and staff offer free services to residents in long-term care and their family members, processing over 200,000 complaints in 2024, per a recent AARP report. Over half (120,000) of these complaints led to corrective action. Providing independent oversight of long-term care providers, ombudsmen also identified and filed 13,000 complaints on behalf of residents in 2024.

Trained volunteers play a crucial role in the program, working under and alongside paid staff to visit facilities and investigate and resolve complaints, protecting the health, safety, welfare, and rights of nursing home residents and others relying on long-term care. Backed with volunteer support, the LTCOP offers a vital layer of protection for the more than 2 million Americans receiving long-term care, who are often in a vulnerable position because of their health and age.

Volunteers have long played a vital role in the program. However, a recent AARP report identified a volunteer shortage — even as the need for volunteers has increased.

Key Findings From AARP’s Report

Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program volunteer hours have declined by more than half since 2016. While more than 600,000 volunteer hours were reported in 2016, fewer than 300,000 hours were reported in 2024. The pandemic appears to have sped up the decline in volunteers because it limited access to nursing homes, including for volunteers who typically conducted routine visits to these facilities.

At the same time, the need for volunteer support for long-term care recipients as well as their families, who made about a quarter of complaints in 2024, is increasing. As the population ages, individual ombudsmen have had to shoulder more responsibility. As of 2024, there was only one ombudsman per 600 beds, up from 350 beds in 2016.

In the wake of the pandemic, care complaints have also risen. Comprising about a third of complaints made, care complaints involve requests for help, accidents, medications, personal hygiene, and confinement. In 2023 and 2024, care complaints spiked 19 percent higher than in 2019.

As volunteers play such a crucial role in the LTCOP, the shortage could limit the program’s ability to protect long-term care residents.

Learn More

Volunteers, who can be as young as 18 years old, have the opportunity to learn about residents’ rights and help them resolve problems.

To learn more about volunteering your time as a long-term care ombudsman representative, visit the National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center’s website for more information.

For additional reading, check out the following articles:

• Your Front-Line-Advocate: Nursing Home Ombudsman
• Medicaid Benefits for Assisted Living Residents
• Which States Have the Best Protection Against Elder Abuse?