- Home
- About Us
- Better Care
- Our Book
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Before Your Mother Enters The Nursing Home
- Chapter 2: The First Day
- Chapter 3: Your Mother's Room and Her Property
- Chapter 4: Making the Most of Visits
- Chapter 5: What Should Happen in the First Weeks
- Chapter 6: Planning Your Mother's Care
- Chapter 7: The Care Plan Conference
- Chapter 8: Working With a Hospice
- Chapter 9: Activities
- Chapter 10: Paying For Nursing Home Care
- Chapter 11: If the Nursing Home Wants to Discharge Your Mother
- Chapter 12: Dealing With Problems Yourself
- Chapter 13: Getting Help With Problems
- Fact Sheets
- Minimum Staffing
- Our Book
- Family Councils
- What is a Family Council?
- Why are Family Councils Important?
- Benefits of a Family Council
- What Do Family Councils Do?
- The Rights of Family Councils
- How to Start a Family Council
- Why Smart Nursing Homes Want Family Councils
- Tips to Nursing Home Staff for Starting a Family Council
- Where Can I Find a Family Council?
- Resources for Your Family Council
- Looking for a Nursing Home
- Getting Help
- Advocacy
- Support Us
- Contact Us
Volunteer
By volunteering your time with ICBC, you can help improve the chances for better nursing home care that our fellow citizens need and deserve. Hours are flexible; in some cases you can work in your own home. We provide training for all our volunteers.
Help us Update our Nursing Home Database
Our nursing home database has important information for people who are looking for a nursing home. We are the only ones in the state of Illinois who have this range of information. Our database starts with government sources, but also includes information from nursing homes about services and amenities. We call every nursing home to ask questions ranging from whether it accepts residents initially on Medicaid or has on-site dialysis, to whether it allows visits from family pets and what is the smoking policy. The caller will speak initially with the facility Admissions Coordinator to get accurate information. You can work out of your home or in our office. While it helps to have basic computer skills, they are not required.
If you have experience with Excel, SAS, or any other program that we can use to do qualitative and quantitative analysis of data, we could really use your help. We are interested in analyzing, among other things, violation patterns, staffing patterns, and nursing home expenditures.
One of ICBC's primary functions is to impact policy through advocacy efforts on behalf of long-term care residents. While the nursing home industry is one of the richest and most politically powerful lobbying groups in Illinois, ICBC has been successful time and again in getting legislators to consider not only money, but also the experiences of the residents and their families who live in their districts. You can be an advocate by informing yourself about issues, contacting your legislator, writing letters to the editor, rallying your friends and neighbors to make calls or making legislative visits. You can have a say in whether and how Illinois implements nursing home reform.