Tip: Program trains patient advocates

Here's a chance to help protect the rights of some of Long Island's most isolated and frail citizens. The Long Term Care Ombudsman Program is recruiting volunteers to visit local nursing homes, adult homes and assisted-

living facilities to serve as patient advocates. Many of the residents have no family or friends to speak up for them.

The program will train you, then send you to a facility near your home once a week. You will work with administrators and staff to resolve problems and improve the quality of the residents' lives.

To volunteer in Nassau, call Family and Children's Association at 516-466- 9718. In Suffolk, call Family Service League at 631-427-3700, ext. 240. You also can call those numbers if you have a friend or relative in a long-term-care facility who is in need of an advocate.