Maximizing Aging Using Volunteer Engagement (MAUVE)

This initiative aims to improve quality of life for older adults and reduce their risks of functional decline while they are patients in the hospital by providing training, structure, and support for volunteers. MAUVE (Maximizing Aging Using Volunteer Engagement) is one prong of Mount Sinai’s strategy to become a senior-friendly hospital with a clinical focus on Geriatrics. The Volunteers are trained to provide support in the following areas: Reminiscence, Leisure, Orientation, Aesthetics/Grooming, Meaningful Projects, Eating/Hydration, and Comfort. A number of processes and tools have been put in place: • A binder on each floor of the hospital has suggested “activities of engagement” specific to each patient. The consult team Social Worker or Occupational Therapist reviews and updates the binder. • Actors from University of Toronto’s Standardized Patient Program were enlisted to provide experience and training. Scenarios enacted helped with eating assistance, dementia, and interacting with a patient who is unable to communicate in a conventional way. • Eating Assistance Training was provided to 120 Volunteers. This hands-on training included information about nutrition, speech-language pathology, and safety. Volunteers only feed patients who staff identifies as being safe to feed. Research Ethics Board approval was obtained to perform qualitative (focus group) and quantitative (questionnaire) analysis of the impact of the standardized patient training for the volunteers. The initial analysis indicates that new learning occurred via the standardized patient training that did not occur with didactic training.