The latest figures show Missouri is still well below federal recommendations for the number of hours of care nursing home residents should receive.
When COVID hit, Missouri lost many of the volunteers who help advocate for those residents. KMOX's Megan Lynch talked to some volunteers about the efforts to rebuild the programs.
Volunteer Richard Stevenson visits nursing homes every week to meet with residents.
"Oftentimes, they don't understand their rights," Stevenson said. "They can't communicate their needs and they need someone to come in and help them understand that and communicate to the administration and the surrounding people there."
Stevenson is what's called an ombudsman -- advocate for nursing home residents. If there's a concern, the ombudsman has the delicate task of approaching a facility to find solutions.
"You have to be willing to be uncomfortable. And I guess that's what I find challenging," he said.
The St. Louis-based advocacy group Voice saw many of these volunteers step away during the uncertainty of the pandemic. Executive Director Marjorie Moore told KMOX they could use dozens more right now.
"Volunteers are able to go once a week and really check on residents get to know them," Moore said. "In the facilities that don't have a volunteer in them, that means that the staff of Voice are trying to go there quarterly. So the facilities get a lot less regular oversight, just due to the funding of the program."
Stevenson said his experience has been that staff of nursing homes want to do well, but they're stretched too thin.
"Most of the problems that I have seen in the facility that I work in is related to insufficient staffing," he said.
Moore added, "We will see residents who aren't being turned regularly who aren't being fed properly, so maybe they don't have the appropriate use of their hands and the food tray is being put in their room, but they're not being helped to be fed. So you know, we're seeing malnourishment."
She said it's amazing how much the presence of volunteers can change the situation.
"If staff that may be inclined to do less, know that the ombudsman is coming, sometimes they they pick up a little bit more," she said. "They make sure things are being done right if they think the ombudsman is coming, and at times the ombudsman is key."
Hear more about nursing home staffing shortages and how they can be helped:
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