Indianapolis, July 8, 2010 – A new program aimed at assisting ill and at-risk adults and seniors at Wishard is in need of volunteers.  The Wishard Volunteer Advocates Program is recruiting volunteer advocates to be trained as limited guardians to assist patients most in need.  
Studies have shown that nearly one in seven U.S. adults aged 71 and older, or roughly 3.4 million people, have some form of dementia.  Many of these seniors and adults do not have a family member to help make important medical decisions.  This is where trained volunteers can make a difference.  
The program is modeled after the Volunteer Advocates for Seniors (VAS) Program at Saint Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Northwest Indiana in partnership with the Lake Superior Courts.  The new program will help address critical healthcare, social service, and legal representation needs of the growing population of ill and at-risk incapacitated adults and seniors in Marion County.  
"Our volunteers will be trained, court-appointed advocates who will protect the interests of the patients they serve while the patients are in the hospital and after they have been transitioned to health care facilities or the community," said Robin Bandy, director of the Wishard Volunteer Advocates Program.  
The role of the volunteer guardian will be to assist the court by investigating and assessing the at-risk person's life situation, facilitating health care and social services needed by the individual, and planning for the appropriate residential placement and services for the person.  The volunteers will also work with Wishard social workers to meet the needs of the person. 
The Wishard Volunteer Advocates Program is currently recruiting volunteer advocates to be trained as limited guardians.  If you are interested and would like further information regarding the program, please contact the program at (317) 630-6254.