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Community advisory committee reports 700 volunteer hours and visits to local long‑term care facilities
Summary
The county’s Nursing Home and Adult Care Community Advisory Committee reported volunteers made more than 700 hours of visits in February 2024 to long‑term care facilities and described training requirements and common issues observed during visits.
Trevor Coleman, chair of Johnston County’s Nursing Home and Adult Care Community Advisory Committee, presented the committee’s report to the Board of Commissioners on March 12.
Coleman said the volunteer committee — which had more than 10 active members, one member in training and two prospective members at the time of the report — makes routine visits to long‑term care facilities to check residents’ rights, living conditions and to promote community involvement. He described the committee as volunteers and noted they are not regulators: findings are shared with the county Department of Social Services for follow‑up when warranted.
Coleman said training requirements for new advocates recently increased from 15 to 36 hours and all members must complete 18 hours of continuing education annually. In February 2024 the committee’s teams volunteered over 700 hours and traveled more than 2,800 miles to visit five nursing homes, 11 adult care homes and 19 family care homes. Frequent issues the committee encountered included staffing levels, turnover in leadership, complaints about food and limited activities; Coleman also praised long‑term facility staff who had worked at some sites for more than 20 years.
Commissioners thanked the committee for its work and discussed recruitment; Coleman said several residents and local connections, including from Johnston Community College, had expressed interest in joining the committee.
