The Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health is looking for volunteers to become peer advocates for isolated or at-risk seniors. The program is called 'Lonely No More'.
Research Project Coordinator Jessie Payne explains they'll provide a one-day training session for volunteers.
"We'll give them resources in order to help the seniors who are facing the social isolation, with a lot of the problems that they have, this might include elder abuse, system navigation in using the internet and resources that are already available to them, they might not know how to access them," she says
Payne says in-person visits are ideal but the distances involved may make that difficult so much of the work can be done over the phone - that will be based on what volunteers can do and how much time they have.
Anyone interested in becoming a seniors peer volunteer can contact Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health or go to their website.