Friendly Visitors Help Seniors Connect

Written by Rita Bowers, special to RedCross.org

April 2, 2002 — Imagine living in a world where no one can understand you. Imagine calling out for help and no one comes to your rescue. This is not a dream, but a reality for Ngan who is a sight-impaired senior from Vietnam living in the city of Alexandria, Va. She speaks no English and none of the staff at her nursing facility speak Vietnamese.

Tatyana Nguyen, who speaks Vietnamese, visits Ngan every week.

The elderly woman in her 80s lived a solitary life during her stay at the home until she met Tatyana Nguyen. Nguyen, who speaks Vietnamese, is a volunteer with the Alexandria Red Cross Friendly Visitors Program. Nguyen visits Ngan weekly and provides her with the companionship she desperately needs. "Just to speak her own language and be heard is a release for her," Nguyen said. "I ask her about herself and her culture."

Through Nguyen, she communicates with the staff members and receives proper care. "I ask her how she is feeling so I can translate it to the nurse," said Nguyen. "I talk to the nurses and give them specific words like 'Do you need medication?'''

The Alexandria Red Cross Friendly Visitor Program offers seniors in the community a way to connect with other people. To be eligible for the program, seniors must be age 65 or older, residents of Alexandria, alone, lonely, homebound, or otherwise socially isolated. The Red Cross matches them with volunteers who have similar interests.

Volunteers make a minimum six-month commitment to visit the seniors at least once a week for an hour. The program recently began seeking out visitors who speak a foreign language to assist clients who did not speak English. The 65 volunteers speak a total of 17 languages, including Vietnamese, Greek, Korean and Spanish.

"The program provides people [with a way] to look after the most vulnerable part of our society," stated Glenn White, the program's director. "Our seniors and their out-of-town family members often tell us what a difference it has made in their lives."

White noted the positive impact the program has on the lives of clients. He stated that one volunteer bought a bed for a senior who was living without one. Another volunteer arrived for a visit with a different client and found the person having severe respiratory problems. The volunteer obtained emergency medical attention for the senior. This action helped save the person's life.

The seniors are not the only ones benefiting from the program. Many volunteers feel their lives have been enriched from the experience. Nguyen expressed a sense of accomplishment from working with Ngan. "Most of the people have no one who visits them," she said. "I work full time, but I wanted to help people who can't have any help from others. It makes me feel fulfilled; nothing can buy that."

For more information about the American Red Cross in Alexandria, visit the chapter's Web site.