January 4, 2018

Self-Evaluation of the Long-Term Care
Ombudsman Program

Take advantage of the start of a new year and perform a self-assessment of your program using NORC resources in order to identify strengths and areas for improvement. The purpose of doing a self-assessment on the LTCOP is to improve the effectiveness of the program, identify areas of strength and areas that need improvement, and to set standards to strive for. The purpose is not to evaluate you as an Ombudsman program representative or compare your program to other programs. Resources of program evaluation and program effectiveness are available on our website here. 

Self-Evaluation and Continuous Quality Improvement Tool
This tool is divided into 13 components critical for an effective LTCO program. The 13 components are: Program Access, Program Management, Complaint Handling, Education/Information and Assistance, Training, Systems Advocacy, Program Integrity, Conflict of Interest, Confidentiality, Legal Resources, Fiscal Resources, Relationships with Agencies/Entities/Individuals/Citizen Groups/Others, and Accountability. The indicators for each component address critical elements of a local program in order to highlight program strengths and areas in need of improvement. 

LTCO can use the tool to assess one area at a time or address all components at once. An instructional brief and recorded webinar are available to explain the tool, as well as a mini-tool to assist LTCO in quickly identifying aspects of their program to address first. This evaluation tool is available for State Long-Term Care Ombudsmen and for Ombudsmen program representatives.

State Long-Term Care Ombudsman tool (left); Ombudsman program representative tool (right)

Mini Tool

The Mini-Tool uses the same 13 components as the original Self-Evaluation and Continuous Quality Improvement Tool; however, the Mini-Tool only lists three indicators from each component in order for Local and State Ombudsmen to quickly evaluate major aspects of their program. View the Mini-Tool for State Ombudsmen here and the Mini-Tool for Ombudsman program representatives here.

Mini-Tool for State Ombudsmen (left); Mini-Tool for Ombudsman program representatives (right)

Webinar

This webinar provides an overview of the self-evaluation tool, demonstrates how to use the tool, features presentations from Ombudsmen (SLTCO and LLTCO) that have used the tool and introduces the mini-tool. You can view the webinar as a PowerPoint, PDF, or listen to a recording.

Happy New Year! Make 2018 the best year by setting goals and priorities for the new year! Use these tools to develop an action plan tailored to best serve your program.

Read archived issues of NORC Notes, here. If you have a question, are not able to find a resource, or want to share training materials or program practices related to program effectiveness, please email ombudcenter@theconsumervoice.org.