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GUIDELINES
FOR VISITING
Courtesy of
Friendly Visitor Program
Senior Citizens of Greater Dallas
Several visits may be required before
a bond of friendship and trust will be established between you
and the persons visited. In the beginning, residents may simply
not know how to accept your attention. The following suggestions
may help to guide you.
DO
- Learn something about your prospective friend
before visiting: interests, background, limitations and needs.
- Touch and hug. Physical touch can go a long
way toward letting the resident know you care.
- Respect confidence. Keep private conversations
private.
- Be a good listener. Your friend may often have
no one else sho spends time to talk.
- Keep promises. Be careful what you promise.
Never say anything unless you mean it.
- Be conscientious about meeting your scheduled
visits.
- Encourage friendship among the residents.
- Be gentle, kind and sincere.
- Respect privacy. Knock before entering a room.
- Remember that residents are adults and should
be treated as such. Accept and respect each resident as a unique
individual, regardless of mental or physical condition.
- Remember that you are a vital part of the community;
so is the resident.
DON'T
- Be a clock-watcher while visiting. Quality,
not quantity of time is important.
- Feel obliged to solve the personal problems
of the resident. Just being there to listen and empathize is important.
- Let the resident dwell on negative feelings.
Allow them to express themselves, then move on to a positive activity.
- Bring food items for the resident before clearing
it with the activity director or nurse.
- Attempt to give nursing care or perform duties
of paid staff such as lifting or transferring.
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