Senior Ambassadors Make a Difference
“Hello, my name is Walter. I’m a volunteer. May I visit with you?” With a simple question, a special bond is formed between a volunteer and a patient.
Volunteers known as Senior Ambassadors take four hours out of their week to visit with patients 65-years-old and up at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. With smiling faces and wearing green uniforms, they are assigned to one of the 15 units, where some geriatric patients have few visitors and are looking for companionship during their stay.
“Longer stay patients are at the top of my list,” said Walter Dunlap, who has been a volunteer for nearly six years. At 77-years-young, he has a personal connection to the gastrointestinal unit where he now serves as a senior ambassador. “These physicians and nurses saved my life when I was hospitalized eight years ago. I have a lot more in common with these patients than just my age.”
Senior ambassadors go room-to-room, sometimes visiting dozens of patients during one shift. Dunlap starts a conversation by asking where they live and how they’re feeling. “You learn a lot about their lives. It helps if I can find a commonality with folks. You make these connections with people and you want to lift their spirits,” Dunlap said.
In some cases, elderly patients, with more complex conditions, are at the hospital multiple times. “It’s nice to see a familiar face but I wish it was under different circumstances, outside the hospital for a senior coffee break,” Dunlap said.
A patient and her husband remembered Dunlap and greeted him with a handshake. She has been in and out of the hospital for more than 100 days. The couple called Dunlap a blessing. “Texas Health Dallas is our home away from home,” the patient said. “The entire staff runs on compassion and energy.”
After leaving the room, Dunlap jots down a few notes on his clipboard. “She’s in good spirits. I’ll make a note of that.” Senior ambassadors keep a record of every patient they see. The notes are filed and used as a reference for the next volunteer.
Senior Ambassadors, the first in the Texas Health system, have logged more than 1,000 visits with geriatric patients since the program launched in March. While they don’t provide any medical assistance or advice, they do consider themselves a part of the healing team.
“They’re a great gift when they walk into the room,” said Kathryn MacDonell, the geriatric manager and founder of the program. “Senior Ambassadors come with a willingness to be present, really connect and listen to people’s stories. It’s a chance for older patients to feel more recognized and it enhances their experience at the hospital.”
There are 10 senior ambassadors, all with different ages, cultures and professional backgrounds. Malina Maharana is a senior as well — a senior in college.
“The older generation is usually overlooked but I want to change that,” Maharana said. “They really just want someone to talk to about life.”
It’s a hand-on learning experience for Maharana, a neuroscience major, who is assigned to a neurology unit. “I listen and learn about injuries and procedures that you don’t always hear about in a classroom,” she said.
Maharana said her goal is to offer comfort and company to people who may be lonely, so she goes through a list, circling the patients’ names with the longest stay.
When Maharana steps into a room, she looks at their bedside table for a conversation starter. She notices books and magazines. After a discussion about literature, she learned they share a common interest in science fiction novels.
“For some people, this is the only time they’re getting an extended amount of social time,” Maharana said. “I’m also the person to relay information to their nurses if they have a medical question or want to see a physician.”
Maharana’s interaction goes beyond a meaningful conversation. She uses an activity kit, located at the nurse’s station on the units, with crossword puzzles, coloring books, art supplies and playing cards. “We can do puzzles, color or read to them. It passes the time while they’re in a hospital bed,” Maharana said.
Senior ambassadors said they feel especially helpful during lunchtime. MacDonell changed their shift time after nurses said they enjoyed having an extra set of hands to help patients eat. “Some can’t see their food, have memory challenges or they’re too weak to eat by themselves,” MacDonell said. “They love when an ambassador offers to feed them.”
